Comments on: Barista Forced to Remove Nose Ring: What Should She Do?

By: Kamille

Kamille — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:40:52 +0000

And you Dan, give off the appearance of being somebody who cannot spell.

It’s ‘insolent’ not ‘insulent’.

By: dan

dan — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 06:41:01 +0000

She should just take the nose ring out, grow up and help the customers. A nose ring gives the appearance of someone being dirty and insulent.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:20:01 +0000

Another option is for her supporters to rally community members who frequent the coffee shop and want their young people employed to boycott it…money talks.

By: Izzy

Izzy — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:58:03 +0000

Will they allow her to put a very small band aid over the stud? I used to work for Starbucks, and they, too, have the same jewelry restrictions. What the manager use to allow was for the barista to put a small band aid over the stone – sized slightly larger than the stud. Hope it’s an option.

By: josh

josh — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:22:45 +0000

As a former union organizer, I have to agree with Kerry that the company can tell this Barista to remove her nose ring, unless she has a union contract which states otherwise. I’m assuming she, like virtually every other coffee worker isn’t represented. Sometimes, even without a contract, workers can push the company on their policies (such as the Starbucks Workers Union – http://www.starbucksunion.org/ – has been able to do around some issues in some locations).

Asking about her medical information however is crossing a line – I’m not sure if it’s a legal line, but it’s definitely a moral line. Her appointments with her doctor is none of their business.

Now, if she were to get fired, I would imagine she could have access to unemployment, but that depends on the state. I think it’s important to show that she did as asked. Make sure to keep a record of this all, in case it’s needed for unemployment.

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All that aside, if she has trouble getting the nose ring out, it’s probably a good idea to take it out and let her nose heal..

Good luck!

By: George Chernikov

George Chernikov — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:52:03 +0000

I agree with Kerry – here in Geneva, I was once involved in interviewing a candidate for a job with one of the local private banks. The candidate wore a nose ring – and although he was otherwise eminently qualified, he was told point-blank at the end of the interview that if he wants to work with the bank, he will have to make changes to his attire – and that included a more conservative haircut and a removal of the nose ring.

Of course, banks and coffee shops are two very different things – but this simply illustrates that employers are within their rights to demand that employees adhere to a specific code of appearance.

By: Kerry

Kerry — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:56:06 +0000

Yes, it’s legal. Nose-ring wearers are not a protected class, so it’s legal to discriminate against them.

She has a couple of options here:

1. Find a job that doesn’t ask her to do this.
2. Get the nose ring removed.

I always tell people that unless they’re starving, they should generally try to find jobs that are a good cultural fit for them. Trying to change who you are to suit a job usually doesn’t work. Only your daughter knows whether the nose ring is just a nose ring, or whether it’s something that communicates who she is.

On the flip side, the reality is that the nose ring is going to significantly narrow her choices in terms of jobs. A lot of people don’t like them. It sucks that people are judgmental about stuff like that, but at 22, she might as well learn that they are.

I gotta say…I live in Milwaukee, and a lot of people in coffee shops have nose rings. I’m a little surprised that a coffee shop would be that conservative, especially when they learned that she’d actually have to have it surgically removed. They seem like jerks to work for. I think I’d be looking for another job either way if I were her.