UES Salon Discriminated Against Black Employees: Report

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An upscale Upper East Side salon is being accused of discriminating against black employees by policing how they wore their hair just days after the city banned the behavior as racist.

Three former black employees at Sharon Dorram Color at Sally Hershberger, located in an East 71st Street townhouse between Madison and Fifth avenues, told the New York Times that a salon "dress code" forced employees to avoid wearing certain hairstyles such as Afros and box braids.

The city investigated the salon for four complaints against management made between 2016 and 2018, the Times reported. Complaints were filed by both white employees and employees of color at the salon who claimed the dress code was discriminatory and that workers were told to steer clients away from stylists who disagreed with the policy.

One black employee claimed she was fired from her job at the salon due to the policy, the Times reported.

Owners of the salon denied the claims in interviews with the Times. Hershberger's clients include celebrities such as Meg Ryan and the stylist has done the hair of prominent political figures such as Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, the Times reported. Dorram also counts celebrities among her clientele.

New York City's Human Rights Commission announced a new rule last week that prohibits discrimination based on natural hairstyles that many African-Americans wear.

"Policies that limit the ability to wear natural hair or hairstyles associated with Black people aren't about 'neatness' or 'professionalism;' they are about limiting the way Black people move through workplaces, public spaces and other settings," Human Rights Commissioner Carmelyn P. Malalis said in a statement.

Such edicts would constitute racial discrimination under the city's Human Rights Law because they "subject Black employees to disparate treatment," the commission's guidance says. It's illegal to harass black workers because of their hairstyle or force them to hide their hair, according to the guidance.

The rules apply to employers and to public accommodations such as schools, fitness clubs and nightclubs. And they protect not just Afros and locs but also cornrows, braids, twists, fades and Bantu knots.

Noah Manskar contributed to this report.

Read the full NY Times report here.