Is this discrimination?

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I was talking to my boyfriend today about my last boyfriend. I told him about how he hired people when he worked as a manager and be hiring people. I told him he told me if I came into the place to apply and I was dressed up the way I was (had on a red turtle neck, a vest with stars and Saturn on it and black pants with flowers on the bottom) he would have thrown away my application once I turned it in because of the way I was dressed. I told him of course my mother wore the vest when I was little, and the pants are women pants, this isn't a kid's outfit and he said it was out of style. He said he wouldn't hire someone if they wore out of style clothes and my boyfriend said "that's discrimination."

Is that really discriminating by refusing to hire someone just by the way they dress? If they were a bum that be different my boyfriend says. If they had poor hygiene I'm sure that be different too. You have to be clean when you work.

I think it would mainly depend on the position you're applying for.

It's discrimination, but so are any of the other legitimate factors employers use to decide who to hire. I really believe you can tell a lot about people by how they dressed, for better or worse. People decide to dress a certain way because they want to project something, almost never just because it's what's comfortable (and if they are, then you can tell a lot about them from that). For example, none of my friends talk to me about fashion advice because I'm usually in sweats/whatever's comfortable, which is great, because I have NO interest in that world. Not all preformed notions may be correct, but for the most part you really can get a good read about people that way.

That being said, if I were in your boyfriend's position, I wouldn't have hired you either. On paper you may have been completely capable of doing the job, but you have to take into account your ability to interact and work with your colleagues, plus your TYPE of intelligence may have made it difficult to communicate and convey ideas, etc. That's what the ADA/Equal Employment Opportunity is for though.

How come you wouldn't have hired me by the way I'm dressed? It's not like I'm walking in and wearing dirty clothes and my hair is all dirty and so is my skin because I hadn't showered in weeks. Give me a break. Lot of jobs have uniforms. What difference would it make. I get hired and bam I wear the uniform so you never see me in my regular clothes.
Just as long as the person has job history on the application, call their previous employers and interview the manager there asking them about the person and if they were any good with their last job, why refuse to hire them by the way they dress if all your employers wear uniforms.

No. It is not discrimination. If you are unfamiliar with the attire that is attractive to interviewers, a little help from someone at a fine clothing store can easily change that. This is not the same as discrimination based on skin color or ethnic background which cannot be changed. While the outfit you had on when discussing this with your former boyfriend may have been visually attractive, in his mind, it did not convey a professional image.

Employers like people who conform and are more likely to be compliant. If you dress as an individual your going to be seen as someone who might different ideas about how things should be done, like most of us

When I worked in retail, I would give out applications to people who came in. Sometimes, they happened to have been out shopping, and very often they weren't dressed for a job interview. If my boss was out at the time, he would ask me what I had thought of them, when he went over their applications. Once, a guy came in dressed very casually. But what stood out, was the fact that his sneakers smelled awful. My boss wouldn't even read the application, based upon that. IMO, even if you are only going to pick up an application for a position, take care of your grooming and hygiene. Even if you are not being interviewed, in a way, you ARE.

No, that's not discrimination (to not hire you, based upon your outfit). Here's why: An employer CAN legitimately not hire you based upon your choice of clothing since it can be deemed not appropriate for that place of work and the clientele you will serving/working with.

This is NOT okay: Potential employer CANNOT discriminate based upon the fact that you have AS, your heritage, your religion/belief system, sexual orientation, appearance that you have NO control over (ie: like you one arm), disability, age discrimination, etc.

Get it? They can choose to NOT hire you because they deem your personality/demeanor as not suitable - for any reason, whether you think it's justifiable or not. That is, an employer can choose to NOT hire you if you're, say, rude or obnoxious. Fully understable!

Whilst they can't NOT hire you based upon disability/difference, they don't have to hire someone with, say, a speech impediment (like a lisp, whatever), if you're applying for the position of phone telemarketer. Not feasible, sorry.

So, if your potential doesn't hire you based upon your outfit, that is fair and employer's discretion. Imagine if you were to work for a nice department store, for instance. Do you really think they'd hire you if you dressed like you described? How would customers want to buy an expensive suit from you, hypothetically?

Look, I'm not trying to be harsh. Personally, I'm not judgmental. I am just conveying common sense. Employer is looking to make a profit. How does it look, from employer's standpoint, if you cannot dress properly? Might be okay in certain positions, but be reasonable.

This is NOT hard to figure out. I've worked in a lab. I sure wouldn't want a coworker dressing unsafely in the lab - that would just make me nervous. By this I mean; don't wear stiletto heels, long flowing chiffon sleeves, messy in-the-way fire hazard hairstyle, etc. in the lab. Just makes logical sense. Dress appropriately for the job. Save you're 'fun clothes' for private time.

Plus, I doubt any employer would seriously look for a 'professional' with multiple body piercings and tattoos everywhere with poor hygiene, sloppy either. Again, not hard to figure out.

It's discrimination but it's allowable discrimination.

Clothes maketh the man (or woman). They're the way you represent your personality. I'd be reluctant to hire someone who didn't dress appropriately for the interview because it suggests they're not serious about the job.

That's why the internet is so good. I have no idea what you look like but I already have very positive opinions of you because I understand how you think/feel etc... Getting to know someone by personality is much better than by sight. A lot more accurate too.

Right, SHOW your potential employer you CARE about your job/profession. It does matter and shows. If you care, show it. No, you don't need to be phony or superficial (Don't!), but at least dress appropriately! Plus, manners, the basics.....easy enough.

I would call it discrimination -- just not illegal discrimination.

But there are work uniforms. Do managers actually think you would refuse to wear the uniform? People are so judgmental. Luckily I don't judge people by the way I look because I don't know them. If saw someone with a nose ring or someone with purple hair, would I assume they are a gang member or a bad person? No.
All they have to be told is when they get a job, tell them they can't have purple hair and can't have any body piercings except for in you ear but only one hole.


Luckily when I was applying for work, there weren't any managers handing out applications. I went in and asked for one and the person behind the counter would hand me one, if it was at a hotel, I went up to front desk and asked where i pick one up and they hand one to me.
When I applied at the hotel I work at, they do it differently. They have a place called human resources and you go in and get an application from there during certain hours on certain days of the week. I filled one out and turned it in along with a resume. A week later I got called in for an interview. Luckily I was dressed okay because I had to get off the bus and get on the other one that was heading the other direction to downtown. I wasn't sure how long it take me to get there so I took the next bus back and didn't go back home. Just went straight to the hotel and had to wait like 40 minutes before the interview. I sat and read.

Why was I on the bus, because I was heading somewhere to apply for a job there and I was dressed okay because I had asked my mother what do I wear when I am looking for a job and she showed me outfits I can wear.


When I got hired, I had an orientating on the first job and we got told what we can't have, body piercings, different color hair, no long hair for men, must have a clean uniform, no wrinkles in them, etc.

So I don't see the point in judging people by the way they dress if you tell them what they can't have on. I guess I grew up in a family of not judging people. My mother knows how people get misjudged by lot of people because of all the stereotypes out there and people assume what kind of person you are just by what you have on or what dye you have in your hair, etc.


I can remember reading a page on 10 positive things about autistics and one of them was Not judgmental. I have that. I had about all of the positive ones so no wonder lot of people like me.
I guess my mother has that positive human trait too. I can tell by what she was telling me about stereotypes one time by saying how people judge other people by the way they are dressed or look like when they can be very nice people but everyone thinks that person is in a gang.

Last edited by Spokane_Girl on 19 Jan 2008, 2:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It really depends on the job; some don't have work uniforms, and there are also jobs that if you move up the ranks, you would no longer be required to wear a work uniform. For instance, my mother was a managed at a fashion store for quite a while; managers were required to wear their only clothing, but it had to look classy. Most of the time, no one was there to tell her that something didn't look inappropriate (it only happened once, and that was from a fellow employee who was warning her about the... wandering gaze of the CEO), but customers are still going to look at it; the majority of people aren't going to take fashion advice very seriously from someone who is not dressed in a certain way.

It's not really discrimination. I mean, if you go on that as discrimination, then every reason to get turned down for a job is discrimination. It's a matter of first impressions; like it or not, they do make a big impact on a lot of people.

God forbid, eh?

.....Which is exactly why I think aspies should seriously consider self-employment or helping professions rather than the indentured servitude that is the corporate world. Personally, I can't see anything positive about how most today's work environments are set up.

It's no longer about doing the best job you can do. It's all about conforming, kissing the higher-ups' butt and letting them treat you like disposable napkins by using you up, then discarding you when they're finish. I've seen this happen too many times to friends, family and myself, which is why I'd rather go into teaching than spend another day being someone's wage slave. At least as a teacher, I'd be making a difference in a kid's life rather than being a tool for a corporation to exploit.

A little off topic, I know...but I had to let that off my chest.

I agree with nirrti_rachelle. Aspies think outside the box, and it always seems to make life difficult.