A “grooming code” requiring female employees to wear make up and nail polish which did not have similar standards for male employees has been found to be non discriminatory by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court found that appearance standards, including makeup requirements, do not impose an unequal burden on women nor do such requirements amount to sexual stereotyping or harassment.

This case was brought against Harrah’s Casino by a long time female bartender who had an exemplary performance record but was fired for refusing to comply with a new “personal appearance “ policy implemented by management. Under the new policy, female servers were required to wear makeup and nail polish and the policy went so far as to require that females wear foundation, blush, concealed, powder, mascara and lip color to be “applied neatly and in complimentary colors”.

The male servers had their own set of grooming requirements but they essentially only required the men to have short hair and “trimmed fingernails.” The female bartender refused to comply asserting the policy was sexist, degrading and that it had nothing to do with her performance.

The Court did not agree with the bartender finding that the female employee had failed to prove that the policy placed an unjust hardship upon women. While the policy was found to contain “sex-differentiated requirements” based on gender, none of the requirements created more of a burden on women than the requirements upon the men. The court's ruling emphasized that grooming standards must be reasonable in the context of the overall policy. In this case, the employee did not provide any evidence supporting her claims that the policy imposed overly burdensome requirements on women. The court found that the policy was reasonable and no violation of the employee's rights had occurred.

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