How I Nearly Lost My Business After Refusing to Hire a Muslim Hair Stylist Who Wouldn’t Show Her Hair
| More news stories on Britain |
|---|
Natasha Courtenay-Smith, Daily Mail (London), June 18, 2008
For Sarah Desrosiers, meeting Bushra Noah was not a moment in her life that she would describe as especially memorable.
Not only was it brief—lasting little more than ten minutes—but it was rapidly obvious to Sarah that Bushra was not the person for the junior stylist position she was trying to fill at her hairdressing salon.
Sarah’s reasoning? Quite simply that Bushra, a Muslim who wears a headscarf for religions reasons, had made it clear she would not be removing the garment even while at work.
Sarah Desrosiers says she did nothing wrong by not employing Bushra Noah and would have done the same if an employee refused to remove a baseball cap
Sarah felt that a job requirement of any hairdresser was that the stylist’s hair would provide clients with a showcase of different looks. Especially one working in a salon such as hers, which specialises in alternative cuts and colours.
Yet the ten minutes during which Sarah’s world collided with Bushra’s has resulted in an extraordinary employment battle, in which she was accused of ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ discrimination.
For a year, Sarah has been facing financial ruin, due to a compensation claim for £34,000 brought by Bushra, 19, who has maintained she is due that figure after being turned down for a job at the Wedge salon in London’s King’s Cross.
In the event, the tribunal ruled this week that while Bushra’s claim of direct discrimination failed, her claim for indirect discrimination had succeeded.
Sarah has therefore been ordered to pay £4,000 compensation by way of ‘injury to feelings’.
Although this is a smaller sum than she’d feared she might have to hand over, Sarah, 32, is still outraged.
‘I am a small business and the bottom line is that this is not a woman who worked for me,’ says Sarah.
Bushra Noah says that Sarah Desrosiers ‘hurt her feelings’ by not employing her after a ten minute interview
‘She is simply someone I met for a job interview, who, for a host of reasons, was not right for the job. I cannot see how she deserves £4,000.
‘As for the notion that I’ve injured her feelings—well, people’s feelings get injured every day. I dread to think the sorts of things that people will try to claim injured feelings for now that this precedent has been set.’
In its ruling, the tribunal said it was ‘satisfied that Bushra was not treated less favourably than Sarah would have treated any woman who, whether Muslim or not, wears a hair covering at all times when at work’.
Accordingly, the claim of direct discrimination failed.
But with regard to the issue of indirect discrimination, they found that Sarah had pursued a ‘legitimate aim—that aim being to promote the image of the business’.
However, the burden of proof was on Sarah to prove that her means of achieving that legitimate aim was proportionate.
She was not able to prove her contention that employing someone with a headscarf would have the negative impact on her business’s stylistic integrity that she feared.
Since the judgment, Bushra, who is of Syrian descent and has worn a headscarf since she was 13, has, so far at least, chosen not to comment.
But, speaking last year, she admitted she had attended 25 interviews for hairdressing jobs without success.
But Sarah, she told the tribunal, had upset her the most.
She said: ‘I felt so down and got so depressed. I thought: “If I am not going to defend myself, who is?” Hairdressing has been what I’ve wanted to do ever since I was at high school.
‘This has ruined my ambitions. Wearing a headscarf is essential to my beliefs.’
Bushra had a job in a salon in London, where her tasks included cutting hair, highlighting, tinting and perming, before she left to get married in Syria in 2006.
But on her return to Britain, she was unable to find work.
She has given up her ambitions to become a hairdresser and is studying travel and tourism at Hammersmith and West London College while working part-time in a shop.
At the tribunal, Bushra was asked if Sarah had made derogatory remarks about her headscarf.
She replied: ‘She did not. She just asked me if I wore it all the time, or whether I’d take it off.’
Although Bushra is believed to have been acting alone, in the past similar cases have been championed by Muslim traditionalist groups.
In 2006, the Law Lords overturned a court ruling that teenager Shabina Begum’s human rights were violated when she was banned from wearing full Islamic dress at school.
Sarah in her salon—Wedge—located in north London says that the discrimination case against her almost ruined her business
The extremist Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir later admitted that it had ‘advised her’.
Meanwhile, Sarah Desrosiers is wondering how to raise the £4,000 she has been ordered to pay Bushra. She has spent her savings on her legal battle and simply has no money left.
‘I am a one-woman band, and am already in debt due to the set-up costs of opening my own salon,’ says Sarah. ‘I dread to think how many haircuts I’m going to have to do to earn the £4,000 I have to pay Bushra. This has, without doubt, been the worst year of my life.’
Such a messy set of circumstances, let alone the strain of having the case bought against her, was certainly not what Sarah expected when she started out on her career aged 17.
From the outset, she had grand ambitions, telling her mother that she would one day have her own salon.
‘Even back then, I realised how important your own hair is to the job,’ says Sarah. ‘I went into hairdressing a rather plain brunette, but within a few weeks I had a bright red crop.
‘I wanted to provide clients with inspiration through my own hair. Whether they’re in a conventional High Street salon, or something slightly different like my salon, customers expect to see the stylists with hair that is on trend, striking and can give them ideas for their own look.’
In 1997, Sarah got a job at a salon on London’s Portobello Road, where she remained for almost a decade.
In March 2006, feeling ready to spread her wings, she wrote a business plan, secured a loan and invested £5,000 of her savings into the lease on a small salon on Caledonian Road.
She named it Wedge, and planned to specialise in ‘urban and edgy’ cuts, rather like the cerise colour she often dyes her own hair.
‘I’d never felt as proud as I did on the day I picked up the keys to my salon,’ says Sarah.
‘I was prepared to put my heart and soul into my business in order to make ends meet, and for the first few months, I worked 12 hours a day, six days a week, all by myself.
‘I barely saw daylight, but I didn’t mind because I was fulfilling my ambition.
‘Of course, there were a few nerve-racking moments, such as when another salon opened a few doors away. But that is part of owning your own business, and I felt proud of all I was achieving.’
By March 2007, the business was doing so well that Sarah needed to take on another stylist. To minimise her overheads, she decided the best way to do this would be by renting out a chair in her salon to an experienced stylist—who would take a share of her profits—and employ a junior to work for both of them.
Sarah received dozens of applications for the junior position, one of which was from Bushra Noah.
‘Her CV didn’t stand out because I was looking for someone who lived locally—something I’d specified in the advert so that I could call them in as and when required—and she lived several miles away in Acton,’ says Sarah.
‘One day she rang up to see if I’d got her CV and begged me for an interview. I told her I had concerns about where she lived, but she sounded so desperate that I agreed she could come in for a chat.’
A few days later, Bushra duly arrived at the salon.
‘I have to say I didn’t take to her,’ says Sarah. ‘She waltzed into the salon and hung up her coat as though she already had the job.
‘Naturally, I noticed her headscarf. But I presumed that, as she’s a hairdresser, she’d take if off when she was working. In 16 years, I’ve never known any stylist cover their hair with a headscarf. And this particular headscarf came all the way down to her eyebrows and covered her entire hairline.’
Sarah broached the subject with Bushra, who said she would not be removing the garment.
After ten minutes, with the interview complete, Sarah said she would come back to Bushra about the vacancy.
‘As she left, Bushra turned to me and said that she’d been turned down for jobs before,’ says Sarah. ‘And I admit I thought: “Well, what do you expect?”
‘It was not a religious matter. If she’d come in wearing a baseball cap and saying she wouldn’t take it off for work, then she wouldn’t have got the job either.’
One morning in the second week of June 2007, an innocuous white envelope landed on Sarah’s doormat. It contained a letter saying that she was being sued for £15,000 for indirect and direct discrimination by Bushra Noah.
This, the letter stated, related to compensation for injury to her feelings and lost earnings. Later, that figure was increased to £34,000.
‘I read it and re-read it and stood there dumbfounded,’ says Sarah.
‘I remembered Bushra, and I guessed straight away that the claim related to the headscarf. In my mind I was saying “But I wasn’t discriminating, it’s just a part of the job”, over and over again.
‘I dialled the number at the top of the letter and was told I needed to get a solicitor, but that because I worked, I wasn’t entitled to Legal Aid. I thought: “This is it—my business is over.” I was devastated.’
Using her savings of £2,000, Sarah employed a lawyer who helped her draft a statement about her meeting with Bushra.
But with his fees at £280 an hour, she knew she couldn’t afford to fight a satisfactory legal battle. Her parents—her mother is a nurse, and her father is retired—weren’t in a position to help her out financially either.
‘I was at my wits’ end, and I had no idea how I was going to pay for my legal fees,’ says Sarah.
‘I was virtually being accused of racism, which is ridiculous. I’ve cut the hair of people from all walks of life, including transsexuals, and you can hardly run an alternative salon if you are prejudiced.’
Help came when a friend tipped off a reporter about what was happening, and Sarah’s case gained publicity, first locally, then nationally. Since then, she has received support from hundreds of people in the hairdressing industry, including black celebrity stylist Errol Douglas.
Still, the wave of support did little to ease the stress as she fought to clear her name.
‘For months, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, I felt as though my whole life was on hold. All I could see was that I’d be forced into bankruptcy and lose my business.’
In the course of preparing for her trial, Sarah estimates she has lost £40,000 of her salon’s annual income.
She also faced a further blow when it emerged that Bushra had increased the figure to £34,000 to compensate for hate mail she had received following Press coverage of the trial.
In March, Sarah faced a three- day employment tribunal, and endured four hours of cross-examination.
‘I managed to defend myself and not cry, but it was incredibly difficult,’ she says. ‘I’d even had to ask my accountant, who is a Muslim, and another Muslim friend to write letters confirming that I am not racist. The whole experience was so humiliating and, most importantly, unnecessary.’
‘I kept thinking: “I’ve worked hard all my life—how can it be possible that someone can come into my shop, talk to me for ten minutes and then sue me for £34,000? How is that possibly fair?”.’
As she reels from the verdict, Sarah is contemplating her next move. While part of her is tempted to pay, simply to close the door on this unpleasant episode, she also feels she should fight to clear her name.
Her lawyers are advising her on whether or not she can appeal.
‘Because of this there will be a black mark against my name for the rest of my life,’ she says. ‘I feel I have not done anything wrong, and this is a terrible price to pay for a meeting that lasted ten minutes.’
 Sarah Desrosiers. |
 Bushra Noah. Hair and hurt feelings not shown. |
[Editor’s Note: AR News posted the first account of this incident here.]
(Posted on June 18, 2008)
Comments
“Although Bushra is believed to have been acting alone, in the past similar cases have been championed by Muslim traditionalist groups.”
Bushra, at 19 years old, is being advised or coached - or else she’s a very quick study.
Posted by Jane T. at 5:45 PM on June 18
I`m only speaking for myself of course, But no way will I ever get a barbershop shave from A Muslim… especially with CNN blaring in the background!
On this story, be thankful for small favors. Or as a business guru once said, “It`s not the people you fire that make your life miserable, it`s the ones you don`t!” This girl might have cost her much more in the long run after becoming an employee. Now at least Sarah will develop a locktight verbal and legal strategy for NOT hiring someone. I would pay a friend or neighbor on retainer to suddenly “be the one” if another case like this arose. She got slapped because she didn`t hire Bushra Noah. She wouldn`t have been slapped if she hired someone else. Repeat these six words. “I`m sorry. I found someone else.”
Posted by Tim Mc Hugh at 6:21 PM on June 18
Whoops! On further detailed reading I realized that the salon owner never said anything more than “I`ll get back to you.” That DOES seem to me like a locktight legal response. Fight it! Hope for Business owners on the jury. Er, Do they still HAVE juries in England?!?
Posted by Tim Mc Hugh at 6:26 PM on June 18
Her bushra is showing (I mean, some of her mustache is still visible, bad muslim girl…)
Posted by at 6:40 PM on June 18
Maybe David Bowie or Sir Elton John will pay it for her…right.
She shouldn’t pay it — she should take it to the highest court and sue Ms. Bushra for damaging her business and reputation.
However, if she makes a bigger case out of it, she could end up a martyr.
Thanks to this move by extremists, small business owners may start “losing” people’s applications if they see an Arabic name on it, which would hurt Muslims as a group, wouldn’t it?
Basically, this is extortion.
Pressure groups and lawyers. Which should disappear first?
Posted by at 6:59 PM on June 18
Sarah Desrosiers said:
“I kept thinking: “I’ve worked hard all my life-how can it be possible that someone can come into my shop, talk to me for ten minutes, and then sue me for 34,000? How is that fair?”“
Well, Sarah, it isn’t fair. It’s as dispicable and crooked as the year is long. This woman is using the government to steal from you, using laws that should not exist. It is shameful.
Posted by The Quadfather at 7:25 PM on June 18
Hopefully her, and those close to her, think long and hard about what has happened. Unfortunately, I think their thoughts will go no deeper than a dislike for Bushra Noah.
How defenseless White British are. They are sitting ducks waiting to have their material possesions stolen by blacks and their life savings ripped away by the next foreigner claiming direct or indirect (!?) racism.
Posted by Kyle at 8:05 PM on June 18
Bushra should become a hairdresser in Syria. Desrosiers should wake up from whatever drug induced haze shes in and realize that being white in the UK means you WILL bend over for “minorities” and it will never be enough. This will continue until the British people put into power those that are actually loyal to the British people. No chance of that happening though, the sun set on Britain long ago.
Posted by Ronin at 8:36 PM on June 18
This muslim woman is a scam artist who was looking for a buck. It was also an attempt by islamics to force their culture yet again. The way the salon owner is being treated is ridiculous. However, in today’s political climate, she and other business owners shouldn’t even bring up the scarf but instead should simply not hire muslims. They should just say “thanks for your time” and never call them back. If anyone demands an explanation later, just don’t give one or say “we found someone more qualified” or “you were not what we were looking for” “we wanted someone with more/different experience” or something vague, that they can’t put their finger on.
Posted by kc at 9:14 PM on June 18
The obvious question to me is—why doesn’t this Muslim woman open her own salon??????
Posted by kitty at 9:26 PM on June 18
>>>‘I dialled the number at the top of the letter and was told I needed to get a solicitor, but that because I worked, I wasn’t entitled to Legal Aid. I thought: “This is it—my business is over.” I was devastated.’
Again, my previous assertions in other comments are underscored. This woman’s relatives fought in the World Wars to protect England and made contributions thereafter. Including paying exorbitant taxes to float the Royal Family. But because she works, she’s not entitled to Legal Aid although some islamic immigrant, whose family probably despises England and all things English, is entitled to free representation.
Is this right? Is this fair?
Posted by James at 9:38 PM on June 18
“The obvious question to me is—why doesn’t this Muslim woman open her own salon??????”
Well, you see Kitty, I think opening her business is her goal, and Miss Desrosiers will be providing the start-up capital. I doubt very highly that the business will be a hip, cutting edge London Salon.
Posted by at 9:58 PM on June 18
The people of Britain are not uniformly oblivious to the stakes here, but they that are aware are far from the levers of power. It’s just going to take time and unfortunately, many more such events. This woman is still cowed by the charge of racism even though she almost sacrificed everything on the alter of diversity.
Posted by Unbelievable at 9:59 PM on June 18
“Again, my previous assertions in other comments are underscored. This woman’s relatives fought in the World Wars to protect England and made contributions thereafter. Including paying exorbitant taxes to float the Royal Family”
Actually, I think the owner of this salon is american, not totally.
Posted by at 10:15 PM on June 18
I’d shudder the business and go on the dole before I gave her an effing shilling.
Posted by at 10:22 PM on June 18
‘I dread to think the sorts of things that people will try to claim injured feelings for now that this precedent has been set.’
I can think of the sorts of things that people (Muslims, especially) will pull. Demanding to be lifeguards when they can’t even swim. Demanding to work in petshops when they freely admit they’re allergic to fur. Demanding that all men must be evicted from the workplace because a Muslim woman’s religion demands a gender-segregated job site. And on and on.
I recall reading that Sarah Desrosiers is originally from Canada. She’s lucky this case didn’t occur to her in Canada, because then the ‘human rights’ tribunals would have ripped her apart and penalized her much more heavily.
This bending over backwards to minorities is too much. I recall the University of Regina hired a woman as an engineering professor right off the bat, because she was both a woman and non-white. They even awarded her a tenure position even though none was posted at the time. They treated her like royalty, revelling in the glory that they believed they had acquired - a chance to prove how politically correct they were by having a non-white female as a tenured prof in a field heavily dominated by white men. Well, after the students started complaining big time, the university finally did some investigating into this woman’s credentials, and her degrees turned out to belong to her ex-husband! This woman didn’t even have an engineering background! The university cheated its students, wasted its money, and threw itself into potential disrepute all for the chance to bend over backwards to placate a minority person any way they could. Makes me want to vomit!
Posted by Matt at 10:34 PM on June 18
I hope this lady fights back and wins. Reminds me of the lawsuits against the Denney’s restaraunt chain here in the US. Groups of blacks would go in and then claim they were seated after everyone else because they were black and would sue for millions. Denney’s installed hidden “security” cameras and the next time blacks filed a lawsuit, Denney’s whipped out the tape which proved the blacks were not only wrong but blatent frauds. Denney’s now has cameras in all of their restaraunts and the lawsuits have come to a screeching halt. The people who sued McDonald’s claiming it made them fat(nobody forced them to eat there) were also black and they lost that case I believe.
Posted by Jo at 10:38 PM on June 18
If I had a business in Britain and needed help, I would ask around among friends and fill the position that way. Better yet, I wouldn’t have a business in Britain.
Posted by jewamongyou at 10:39 PM on June 18
DO NOT FORGET WHAT ENOCH POWELL TRIED TO WARN WHITES IN BRITAIN IN 40 years ago……
Posted by at 11:02 PM on June 18
Is this what British war veterans fought WWII for? I wonder what Henry VIII would have thought of what’s happened to his beloved England?
Posted by at 11:41 PM on June 18
What rights would she have in Bushra’s original country? Could she even step outside unchaperoned, much less without a head covering? In Saudi Arabia this would not be possible, and no British woman would have the right to sue anyone because of it. So why should the haughty faced Bushra have the right to come to another country and sue an indigenous British woman for not wanting to hire her, for whatever reason? Their arrogance, and their double standards outrage me.
Posted by at 11:44 PM on June 18
Remember when it was GREAT Britain?
Not with a bang, but a whimper…..
Posted by at 12:33 AM on June 19
11:41
Perhaps this has all happened BECAUSE they fought WW2. They insisted on checking German power though they had not enough of their own to do so, and for lands the Germans had ancestral claims to. They threw the West into a war that rent the European spirit asunder.
That said, the day the English re-gain their vast confidence in themselves will be a great day for the West indeed.
Posted by Unbelievable at 1:00 AM on June 19
When I visited London about 5 years ago, I planned to visit Portsmouth to see the naval stuff. Well anyways, I had a Pakistani-Brit cab driver. He was raised in England and spoke with a british accent. I asked him if he had ever been to Portsmouth because I wanted some info on it. He wrinkled his nose and grimaced and said “no way, too many white people there”. I kid y’all not. First of all, I’m white so that was rude. Secondly, that comment is about as ridiculous and arrogant as saying one wouldn’t visit a town in Japan because there were too many Japanese people there. Needless to say he didn’t get a tip. Anyways, he hurt my feelings, doesn’t he owe me 4000 dollars.LOL
Posted by Jo at 6:15 AM on June 19
“I`d shudder the business and go on the dole before I gave her an effing shilling”
No! Hire her! And then give her all your “best” customers. Those whose loyalty to the salon means that they will each and every time tip her the lowest coin in the realm at my behest as owner. (Hat tip late Steve Clarke, Ontario) Nobody likes to work for nothing, even to make a point. Aren`t salon tips 40% of income?
As to shutting down rather than pay extortion, yeah I`ve done it and it felt good, real good! Had a sweet lil racket reselling 75 cent student tickets as 3.50 General Admission. Payed for Pizza and beer for four every Friday night. Then an upperclassman said he wanted half the profits or he`d shut me down or kick my ass. Told him no while raising my Pepsi glass to him at the teen hangout after the game and he walked out red faced, thwarted and empty handed. One of the twins I hung with said mere Pepsi never tasted sooo good!
Posted by Tim Mc Hugh at 6:18 AM on June 19
Lost in this whole argument is the one very, very basic fact - that a hairdressing salon only exists to style the hair of its women customers’ - and that a strong part of the impression the customers get of the shop is through visually inspecting the hair-styles of the shop’s staff.
ie hair is very important to a hairdresser.
Just what is controversial about that?
Posted by Kenelm Digby at 6:36 AM on June 19
“But, speaking last year, she admitted she had attended 25 interviews for hairdressing jobs without success”
Obviously she wasn’t a very good sylist if she was turned down this many times and couldn’t find any work. She is such a scammer, she needs a one-way ticket back to Syria. I hope this lady appeals, wins and sues her for all of her legal fees. If I were this salon owner, I would.
Posted by at 8:23 AM on June 19
“Actually, I think the owner of this salon is american, not totally.
Posted by at 10:15 PM on June 18”
I remember from a previous AmRen item on this case that Ms. Desrosiers is in fact an American living/working in England.
Not that what’s happening to her there couldn’t likewise happen to her had she stayed home. The Ethnic Grievance Industry has, to varying degrees, infiltrated EVERY ONE of our white western lands.
Nonsensical, race-based, small-business-ruining lawsuits like this one — coming soon to YOUR town!
Posted by The Incredible Shrinking White Man at 9:53 AM on June 19
However, the burden of proof was on Sarah to prove that her means of achieving that legitimate aim was proportionate.
So let me get this straight: the accusation of a (presumably any) minority is now taken as gospel, and the defendent is assumed to be lying when denying it? Isn’t “innocent until proven guilty” one of those neat little legal gems we got from the Brits in the first place?
‘I dialled the number at the top of the letter and was told I needed to get a solicitor, but that because I worked, I wasn’t entitled to Legal Aid.
Unbelievable. She’s paying for it, but not entitled to use it. Only those who aren’t paying for it are entitled to use it. At her expense. Actually take that back: I believe it.
She also faced a further blow when it emerged that Bushra had increased the figure to £34,000 to compensate for hate mail she had received following Press coverage of the trial.
Put aside for a second whether or not any of the hate mail was warranted (though I personally can’t see how it helps the matter). How is she responsible for letters written by other people?
The whole experience was so humiliating and, most importantly, unnecessary.’
That’s the idea, sweetie. That, and separating you from your hard earned money via extortion.
Posted by BW Sam at 10:48 AM on June 19
You have to wonder if the English government is trying to create a white diaspora. The line from Brecht about the government replacing the population rather than reforming itself does sound about right when considering how the whites have indeed been leaving that country and the colored immigrants moving in. I think the Royals and upper-classes in general genuinely dislike the working class whites…did you know that until a few years ago when Queen Elizabeth visited a pub a Royal had never been in one before? A plan to implant a subservient colored population which knows its place because it cannot hide its ethnicity, and has no claim to the land or the heritage of civil rights because it is of foreign origin would play very well in the snooty set. What is galling is the enormous sacrifices made by the working classes during the last century’s bloody wars on behalf of the government country that so loathes them. Makes it appear that only a chump would stay.
Posted by mark at 11:29 AM on June 19
The lawyers who sued this businesswoman are just as detestable as the arrogant weirdo Muslim girl.
If the law turns unethical, then why should WE be ethical? Why should we continue to be victimized?
No reason I can see.
Posted by the Detested, Detesticled Son of Arius at 1:27 PM on June 19
I stopped any dealings with Muslims when I realised that the only time I ever received money from them was when they handed me change. I had always used their facilities such as curry restaurants, taxis, groceries etc., but I had never received a penny from a Muslim despite running my own market stall for years. This is because they adhere to the maxim: All monies in, no monies out. They tend to spend only at businesses owned by their own people for taxis, haidressers, restaurants & most things.
I now do likewise & except in emergencies I shop only at businesses where the people look like myself. I’m afraid it don’t do much to contribute to diversity, but what’s sauce for the goose …
Posted by dr dees brainwashing elixir at 2:09 PM on June 19
Not all of the in-waiting suicide bombers want the same old drab haircut. Of course they would want to look hip and modern, much like Ms. Noah. Why not meet those afterlife virgins looking stylish?
To me, this stinks of a Big Al, Je$$e Jacka$$-type shakedown. When you don’t fit in somewhere, and really want to, send in a patsy and call the civil-rights’ lawyers.
Posted by Jeremy Douglas at 3:46 PM on June 19
Let this case serve as an example to all British employers. If a Muslim or other alien undesirable shows up for a job interview smile and tell them that you have already chosen a candidate and then graciously thank them for inquiring and tell them you will keep their resume on file in the event you should have an opening in the future.
If that defiant Islamic wench were to try and pull that scam in a country having a bit more backbone she would simply join that endless list of people who come up missing every year never to be seen nor heard from again.
Posted by at 4:25 PM on June 19
James at 9:38 PM: “Including paying exorbitant taxes to float the Royal Family.”
In 2006, this was 62p/year - about the same as a bar of chocolate.
Posted by Barry at 5:44 PM on June 19
Here we go again. Welcome to the new world. In America (and apparently in England) one can sue anyone for anything. Even if the defendant is exonerated they are still required to hire and pay an attorney. This leads the plantiff’s attorney to offer a “settlement” because he knows that by defending the suit the defendant will spend more money on the attorney than the settlement. If it were a mobster it would be called racketeering. Thank you liberals.
Posted by Antranick23 at 8:28 PM on June 19
I believe there is a very good chance that this muslim woman is a plant sent by muslim groups. She “shopped around” at different salons until she found one she could sue. Their goal is money and extorting the native populace to kow tow to muslims and change their ways to appease muslims and further advance islam into the society.
Posted by Kelly at 10:56 PM on June 19
Why Britain ever fought the wars I will never know. This is the U.K. so many good men died for?
Posted by at 11:37 PM on June 19
4,000 pounds for ten minutes of “hurt feelings”. That works out to 400 pounds a minute. Someone can hurt my feelings all day long for that kind of coin. That must be the easiest money this little shake-down artist has ever made in her life.
Posted by at 11:40 PM on June 19
Those of you who lack the experience of a good liberal living in a diverse area need to familiarize yourselves with a few survival tactics: namely hypocrisy and dissembling.
Giving an full and frank reply to someone who is, clearly, unsuited for the job - maybe even trying to set you up for a shakedown suit - is self destructive.
Practice these words: Hey, thank you so much for applying. We had a lot of competition for this job, and we can’t offer you something at this time. Can we keep your number handy in case a similar position opens up?
Posted by Guilty Liberal at 12:40 PM on June 20
Of course it’s a shake-down. A woman, who believes that women should cover their hair and indeed insists on covering her own, has a great desire to become a hair dresser. Uh-huh.
Posted by at 12:40 PM on June 20
“Of course it’s a shake-down. A woman, who believes that women should cover their hair and indeed insists on covering her own, has a great desire to become a hair dresser. Uh-huh.”
Same thing I was thinking. This young woman was deliberately sent in to stir up controversy, and she succeeded at the expense of this hard-working business owner. We have the same problem here, as someone mentioned with the Denny’s affair. Minorities look for any way to get easy money and/or make a “statement”.
When will they unsheath the Saxon sword to smite these invaders?
Posted by Minerva at 10:03 AM on June 21
Practice these words: Hey, thank you so much for applying. We had a lot of competition for this job, and we can’t offer you something at this time. Can we keep your number handy in case a similar position opens up?
Posted by Guilty Liberal
———————————————————-
Do you think it will be that easy? Obviously, you haven’t dealt with the law! They will subpoena you and demand that you produce full documentation of ALL the applicants that you had, and your reasons for refusing each of them. They may even call those alleged “applicants” into court to testify. No, when you’re up against the law, you’re cornered. There’s no easy escape.
Posted by at 3:02 AM on June 22
I say that this is a shakedown also. Looking at the heads of both women, I wouldn’t want either one to cut my hair.
Posted by SandyCSA at 10:22 PM on June 23
3:02 AM: Assuming the “applicant” listed her correct address on the job application form it provides one with all the information they need to deal with an extortionary Islamic wench like this one.
If Brits are willing to bendover and drop their pants every time some inbred parasite from the state asks them to they will quickly find a growing number of people lined up behind them waiting to take their turns…
Posted by at 5:22 PM on June 25