Posted on May 16th, 2022
Find below a full transcript of this video.
What’s up fellow entrepreneurs, today I wanna talk about the federal Crown Act. But first as always, I’m an attorney, but I’m not your attorney. So please find a competent attorney for your specific question or concerns.
All right. So let’s get into it. In March, The US house of representatives passed bill HR21. This bill is known as the Crown Act of 2021. Crown is an acronym for creating a respectful and open world for natural hair. If an acted into law, the crown act would ban race based hair discrimination.
The bill specifically prohibits, failing, or refusing to hire terminating or discriminating against an individual on hair textures or hairstyles, commonly associated with a particular race or national origin.
The bill lists the following as hairstyles that would be protected hairstyles in which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled locks, corn rows, twists braids, Bantu, knots, and Afros.
This legislation comes nearly 10 years after an Alabama employee. Unsuccessfully suited her employer for requiring her to cut her dreadlocks to allegedly fit the employer’s grooming standards.
The company in that case was accused of revoking its job, offer to the plaintiff to work as a customer service representative. After she refused a request from human resources to change her natural hairstyle in 2013, the equal employment opportunity commission filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiff against the company.
However, an Alabama district court ruled the company’s refusal to hire plaintiff because she wore dreadlocks did not violate federal, federal civil rights laws.
In 2016, the 11th circuit court appeals upheld the district. Court’s ruling the drafter of the crown act of 2020. One says that hair texture and hairstyle have been used throughout US history in conjunction with skin color, to classify people on the basis of race.
They further said that racial and national origin discrimination occurs as a result of biases and stereotypes of associated with hair texture and styles.
The bill is headed to the us Senate for a vote. The bill has received support from the white house, but the narrow democratic majority in the state Senate may result in the crown act falling short of approval for you.
For us California business owners, we are already familiar with California’s crown act. I spoke about this in 2019. In fact, California was the first state to adopt the law in July, 2019.
The federal bill and the California’s crown act are nearly identical regarding workplace discrimination. California’s laws started a wave of similar laws being passed, and other states like Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, a Brad New Jersey, uh, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Washington, and Virginia.
California employers are subject to the California’s version of the crown act, whether or not the US Senate approves the federal bill. Employers should revisit their E EEO anti-discrimination policy, hiring policies and dress code and grooming policies to ensure that they are neutral and inclusive.
Any policy regarding race should be amended to include hair texture or protective hairstyles such as braids locks, twists or bad, two nuts.
All right. So that is the news on the federal crown act, whether it passes or not. California still has its version. So it likely does not make much of a difference for us, California employers, but I found this news interesting because I like to keep track of how many California laws are being adopted at the federal level and with other states, because it just seems like, uh, whatever California does other states or the federal government and other states start to follow.
All right. So let’s be aware of all these new laws coming up at the federal level, even though most of them are not as strict as California law.
Anyway. All right. So until next time, be productive.
