After successfully passing an interview, Jessica Devnani showed up for her first day of training at Canada’s Wonderland, a theme park north of Toronto. She was surprised to learn that her dreadlocks would have to go, as "extreme" hairstyles were not tolerated under park policy. Given the option of either getting rid of the dreadlocks or resigning, she resigned.
What are the lessons to be learned from this incident?
Yes, Wonderland has the right to apply its own policy in the park. As a private company, a hiring rule against extreme hairstyles is legitimate. The same type of rule applies to Walt Disney Company cast members. Disney forbids unnatural hair colour, and moustaches and beards for men. Wonderland erred, however, because no one told Jessica about the policy, which would mean cutting her long dreadlocks if she were hired.
As could be expected, Wonderland refused to comment on the incident. Wanting people to know her story, Jessica granted an interview to CityNews, but did not file a formal complaint. The good news is that she has already landed another job for the summer, proving that not all recruiters are anti-dreadlocks !