Worker Wins $29K After 27-Year Fight Over Right to Choose Hairstyle

A resort has been ordered to pay over $29,000 to a former receptionist who was fired 27 years ago for refusing to change his hairstyle.

The Industrial Court ruled that Andre Thomas’s 1998 dismissal from Mill Reef Club was unconstitutional and violated good industrial relations practices. Thomas, who worked at the resort for more than six years, was terminated after a newly appointed European manager demanded he alter his appearance.

When Thomas declined, asserting his constitutional right to choose his hairstyle, he was suspended on November 13, 1998, and fired three days later.

The court emphasized the severity of the employer’s actions, particularly noting that no previous manager, staff member, or guest had complained about Thomas’s appearance, and the resort had no formal hairstyle policy.

“The Court is mindful that the Employer breached a historically important tenet of the Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda when it infringed on the civil rights of the Employee by denying him his right to continue to wear a specific hairstyle of his choice,” the judgment stated.

Judges also criticized the resort for failing to allow union representation and conducting no investigation before termination. The court found that applying “the ultimate sanction of employment termination” for such a reason was especially extreme, noting: “The more frivolous the reason for the dismissal, the harsher one would judge the injudicious action of the Employer.”

The case, filed in 2011, took 14 years to reach judgment. Mill Reef Club’s destruction of Thomas’s employment records complicated proceedings and damaged their defense.

The $29,325.60 award includes compensation for lost income, loss of employment protection, exemplary damages, notice pay, suspension pay, and $2,500 in legal costs.

Payment is due by November 17, 2025.