Work discrimination

[Chef]

In the US, kilts are covered by the same anti discrimination laws as turbans, veils, and other forms of religious / cultural dress. Unless it violates workplace safety, there isn't a damn thing that anybody can do to stop you from wearing it.

I'm afraid I must disagree, cultural dress does not carry the same protection as religious dress and an employer may specify a dress code that they feel is appropriate for their business. Discrimination based on culture is not protected the way sex, religion, national origin etc. are.

The Sex Discrimination Act has not been used succesfully in most cases for men to wear skirts or kilts. Also it is perfectly legal to require an employee to wear what is considered conventional dress for any employee that may come in view of customers.

[Dreadbelly]

And I must disagree.

Not everything is worn for express religious reasons. Take Rastafarians. They wear tams for cultural reasons, a way to mark themselves and cover their dreadlocks. Tams, and their right to wear tams, are protected in the workplace under descrimination laws, and not much can be done about them. Kilts fall under cultural clothing and ethnic dress, which are protected by this same series of laws which are an ever expanding umbrella. Africans are allowed to wear traditional tribal wear, their bright colourful shirts, vests, little hats, and SKIRTS in the work place, and it is protected under the cultural umbrella. And these are men wearing these Kikois... Skirts. There are so many different pan african movements, and not all of them are considered religious, but the cultural clothing is protected from discrimation.

Kilts fall under this same protection that was created to protect minorities and their various ethnic entrapments.

[Chef]

And I must disagree.

Not everything is worn for express religious reasons. Take Rastafarians. They wear tams for cultural reasons, a way to mark themselves and cover their dreadlocks. Tams, and their right to wear tams, are protected in the workplace under descrimination laws, and not much can be done about them. Kilts fall under cultural clothing and ethnic dress, which are protected by this same series of laws which are an ever expanding umbrella. Africans are allowed to wear traditional tribal wear, their bright colourful shirts, vests, little hats, and SKIRTS in the work place, and it is protected under the cultural umbrella. And these are men wearing these Kikois... Skirts. There are so many different pan african movements, and not all of them are considered religious, but the cultural clothing is protected from discrimation.

Kilts fall under this same protection that was created to protect minorities and their various ethnic entrapments.

Rastafarians are protected under religious discrimination laws.

Ethnic and cultural clothing is not protected except in the absence of a full policy. In other words I cannot have a policy that only prohibits certain types of clothing (i.e. kilts or tribal shirts). However I can have a policy that all employees will wear business attire (specifics spelled out). As long as the policy is universal (or job specific) only those articles of clothing that could be tied to discrimination against religon etc. would be protected. Culture is not one of those protected categories. I'm not saying in individual cases employees may have won arguments of cultural dress I am just stating what the law covers. Businesses are allowed to create dress codes to convey an image of their choosing.

By the way not even all religious garb is protected all the time. Religious clothing can be disallowed in situations where identification of employees is necessary as a matter of security and that clothing would hinder that security. Religious garb may also be disallowed for saftey concerns.

[SnakeEyes]

I can understand if it is a safety issue, but if this guy doesn't want you wearing the kilt because it makes you look like a "homo", then that kind of sounds like discrimination to me.

[Chef]

I can understand if it is a safety issue, but if this guy doesn't want you wearing the kilt because it makes you look like a "homo", then that kind of sounds like discrimination to me.

Absolutely. Don't get me wrong I think discriminating against kilts is wrong but it's not illegal here in the US (in most cases) and I kind of doubt it is illegal in Germany (but I don't know for sure).

[IEScotsman]

As much as I love a good legal debate, this forum has a strong policy against legal, medical, or religious "advice". You might as well take this conversation back-channel or to another forum before (I assume) the mods lock it.

[angel923]

Absolutely. Don't get me wrong I think discriminating against kilts is wrong but it's not illegal here in the US (in most cases) and I kind of doubt it is illegal in Germany (but I don't know for sure).

I don't know about Germany's laws on clothing rights either but I would not make the assumuption that the US laws really apply there For instance they have a major road that allows you to drive as fast as you can handle where here in the US we don't have such a nation wide system. So I would say our kilted brethern with the issue try speaking with his boss and see if they can come to a mutually benifical arangment that they both can live with.

[Colin]

As much as I love a good legal debate, this forum has a strong policy against legal, medical, or religious "advice". You might as well take this conversation back-channel or to another forum before (I assume) the mods lock it.

That's some good advise IEScotsman.

Seeking & Submitting Professional Advice
The X Marks the Scot Kilt Forum is not a trained or licensed medical or legal facility. Nor is it staffed by persons trained in medical treatment or in matters of the law. Please do not submit posts seeking or offering advice in these matters, as this forum is not a professional environment that lends itself to this type of exchange. Posts containing these topics and/or comments will be deleted.

Based on that rule, I am going to close the thread. I hope the the original poster resolves the issue they are having with their employer. As it was pointed out Germany and North America are different, so all the factors are not known.

Best of luck with the work place issues Douglas Bryant.