Gonna wash that gray right outta my hair … not

Posted on July 11, 2011 in Our Blog

This story hit a little close to my follicles. Sandra Rawline of Texas filed an age discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against her former employer, Capital Title of Texas, claiming she was fired because she refused to dye her gray hair. Rawline, who is 52, went gray in her 20s, so the gray hair was nothing new to her employers at Capital Title. What was new, however, was the office’s move to a more cosmopolitan location. Rawline says her boss indicated that the new office was to have a more “upscale” image and instructed her not only to dye her gray hair but also to change her clothing to a more youthful style and to wear a lot of jewelry.

Rawline refused to dye her hair, and about a week later she was fired. Capital Title claims Rawline was not fired because of her appearance but because a big client no longer wished to work with Rawline. Rawline counters that she was never told of any customer complaints. In fact, Rawline, who worked her way up to branch manager and escrow officer from receptionist, had received “outstanding employee” awards on more than one occasion.

For more on this story, see this article.