Roots Archives Forum

A group of Rastafarians who work as public safety officers in Manhattan don't need to hide their dreadlocks under their uniform caps anymore.

The Grand Central Partnership, which protects the area near the Grand Central Terminal, settled a federal lawsuit Friday that accused it of forcing the men to painfully tuck in their long hair and suspending them for allegedly violating a grooming policy.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said that the organization has begun allowing the men to wear their hair in neat ponytails.

The nonprofit agreed to revise its policies and pay the men $40,000 under the terms of the settlement. It said in a statement that it has long given reasonable religious accommodation to its employees upon request.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/200 ... z0NcQ5HsRi

good for them for winning...but i can't help but ask...do these rastas smoke herb and still be employed by a public safety office?

They are only tested once as a part of the pre-employment medical examination.

Not all Rastas smoke teh weed anyway...

yes, funky, that is true...but it's good to know that they are not cracked down upon for choosing to smoke after work...some jobs test for drugs randomly, while under employment- i don't like that.

It's probably a little easier to get away with it around here since the decriminalization, I get the sense that most people in New York including police do not really consider herb a drug necessarily.

i agree, we can pretty much smoke on the street as long as you aren't in the tourist spots or making it obvious.
i am surprised that a security company is so lax, though. i'm not complaining about it, you know, cuz what a man does with his own time is his own business and i would have no part of a place that wants to test me.

super ape wrote:yes, funky, that is true...but it's good to know that they are not cracked down upon for choosing to smoke after work...some jobs test for drugs randomly, while under employment- i don't like that.

My employer (an oil company) randomly tests, so unfortunately I have had to knock the herb on the head. A few of my work mates used to get other people to supply the urine sample when they were tested and stick it in between their legs to keep it at the right temperature. The company got wise after a while and a couple of blokes got caught and were sacked.

To be fair an oil refinery is the last place that you would want people to be stoned.

what do you have to show to prove youre a "rastafarian"?

because the vast majority of people i know with dreadlocks dont have a clue or just outright dont care. its a girl magnet thing. a white girl magnet thing more specifically.

one love
jah bill

@jb welda

i'm sure plenty of people have dreadlocks because of fashion or as a "white girl magnet" personally I couldn't care less what people do with their hair. not every dread is a natty and not every natty is a dread so they say.