Man Takes Jiffy Lube to Trial on Grooming Policy

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that a Rastafarian man who said no to shaving off his beard or cutting his hair to comply with Jiffy Lube's employee grooming policy can take his religious discrimination case to trial.

In its ruling on Tuesday, the Court reversed a decision by a Superior Court judge who had dismissed Bobby T. Brown's lawsuit against a Jiffy Lube franchisee before a trial.

Brown was employed as a technician at a Hadley Jiffy Lube business owned by F.L. Roberts & Co. Inc.

In 2002, after Jiffy Lube put a new grooming policy in place requiring employees who worked with customers to be clean-shaven, Brown informed management that his religion does not allow him to shave or cut his hair. Managers reportedly told Brown he could work only in lower bays where he did not have interaction with customers.

Brown filed a discrimination lawsuit in state court in 2006. A Superior Court judge agreed with the company's belief that it had the right to control its public image and found that it would be an undue hardship on Jiffy Lube to grant Brown an exemption from the grooming policy.

But the higher court disagreed, claiming Jiffy Lube had not demonstrated that no other accommodation was available for Brown without imposing an undue hardship on the company.

Although he no longer works for Jiffy Lube, Brown plans to take the case to trial to seek damages from the incident.