NJ woman sues Hooters, claiming she wasn’t hired because of her dreadlocks
A South Brunswick woman is suing Hooters for discrimination, claiming she wasn’t hired by the restaurant because of her dreadlocks.
Inayah Jones alleges in the lawsuit filed Oct. 5 in Middlesex County Superior Court that as she was filling out the paperwork on first day of work at the Hooters at the corner of Cottontail Lane and Weston Canal Road in Franklin, she was told that she was not getting the job because of her dreadlocks.
According to the lawsuit filed by Wilentz, Goldman and Spitzer of Woodbridge, the New Jersey Law against Discrimination prohibits discrimination against "traits historically associated with race, including but not limited to, hair texture, hair type and protective hairstyles."
Hooters has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says that Jones applied for the job at the restaurant in September 2022. A few weeks later a manager told her that he was about to hire her but there was "one problem," the lawsuit says.
The manager told her that the company's policy required servers' hair to be "natural and worn down, no braids or dreads," the lawsuit alleges.
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Jones responded that her hair was "natural and dreaded" and that she could not "unlock her hair" to comply with the policy but she could make sure it was "freshly retwisted," the lawsuit says.
The manager told her to read up on the company's policy change which allows servers to "wear (dreadlocks) but … you have to wear near and down," the lawsuit says.
At the end of their text exchange, Jones was told to report for work the following day and that she could wear her hair up during her shifts, according to the lawsuit.
When she came to the restaurant, Jones had her dreadlocks "near and down" and was completing forms when the manager returned from the kitchen where the franchise's general manager said Jones could not be hired, the lawsuit alleges.
The law prohibiting discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race was prompted by a 2018 incident when a referee ordered an Atlantic County high school wrestler to cut his dreadlocks or forfeit a bout.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ woman sues Hooters for alleged discrimination over dreadlocks
