Acton woman wins discrimination claim

2:59pm Tuesday 17th June 2008

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A MUSLIM woman from Acton was awarded £4,000 yesterday for "injury to feelings" after a hair salon owner refused to employ her because she wears a headscarf.

Bushra Noah accused Sarah Desrosiers, owner of a trendy Kings Cross hair salon, of religious discrimination after she failed to offer her a job in May last year.

A panel sitting at the central London employment tribunal dismissed her claim of direct discrimination but upheld her complaint of indirect discrimination.

Giving its judgment, the tribunal said it accepted that Ms Desrosiers said that Mrs Noah lived too far away but was persuaded to give her an interview.

But when the 19-year-old applicant arrived at the salon she claimed that the Canadian salon owner was clearly shocked by the fact she wore a headscarf.

Ms Desrosiers told the tribunal she was surprised that the younger woman had not mentioned it earlier.

She said she needed stylists to reflect the "funky, urban" image of her salon and showcase alternative hairstyles.

If an applicant had a conventional hairstyle she would insist that it was re-styled in a more "alternative" way, she said.

After a 15-minute meeting she and Mrs Noah parted and both parties told the tribunal it was obvious that the 19-year-old would not be offered the job.

The panel refused an application by Mrs Noah for aggravated damages and rejected her claims that the episode had put her off hairdressing, finding that she applied for further salon jobs before deciding to retrain in tourism.

But they did find that she had been badly upset by the interview and awarded Mrs Noah £4,000 damages for "injury to feelings''.

In their judgment, the panel stated they were satisfied the salon owner did not discriminate against Mrs Noah, but said the "degree of risk" from Mrs Noah working in the salon with a covered head was not as great as Mrs Desrosiers believed.

Ms Desrosiers, 32, said: "I feel it is a bit steep for what actually happened. It's really scary for a small business.

"I never in a million years dreamt that somebody would be completely against the display of hair and be in this industry. I don't feel I deserve it.'' Mrs Noah's legal representatives were not available for comment.