On December 19, 2019, New Jersey enacted legislation amending the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“NJLAD”) to add a definition for “Race” - which has always been a protected category under the NJLAD – and for the term “Protective hairstyle.” The Amendment, referred to as the “CROWN Act” (short for “Create a Respectful and Open Workspace for Natural Hair Act”), amends the NJLAD to add the following to the statute’s list of definitions:
“Race” is inclusive of traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture ...
In September 2019, the New Jersey Division of Rights (“DCR”) issued enforcement guidance (“Guidance”) clarifying and explaining how the DCR applies the state’s Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) to discrimination based on hairstyles, particularly with respect to those “closely associated with Black people.” The Guidance states that the LAD’s prohibition on discrimination based on race encompasses discrimination that is ostensibly based on hairstyles that are inextricably intertwined with or closely associated with race and therefore prohibits ...
The New York City Commission on Human Rights published legal enforcement guidance defining an individual’s right to wear “natural hair, treated or untreated hairstyles such a locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, fades, Afros, and/or the right to keep hair in an uncut or untrimmed state.” The guidance applies to workplace grooming and appearance policies “that ban, limit, or otherwise restrict natural hair or hairstyles”:
[W]hile an employer can impose requirements around maintaining a work appropriate appearance, [employers] cannot enforce such ...
Blog Editors
Recent Updates
- Podcast: Key Changes in Finalized Antitrust Merger Guidelines – Diagnosing Health Care
- FDA Releases Draft Guidance on New Dietary Ingredient Notification Master Files for Dietary Supplements
- Updated Requirements for Informed Consent: HHS Issues New Guidance on Sensitive Exams
- Importance of Negotiating Assignment and Subletting Provisions in Health Care Leases
- Kentucky Law to Expand Assault in the Third Degree Beyond Healthcare Providers at Hospitals to Include Clinic, Dental, Outpatient Facility Employees, and More