Ex-Flight Attendant Who Quit Her Job Because of Stress Caused By Being Asked to Change Her Hairstyle Loses Discrimination Lawsuit

A flight attendant who quit her job, because she was asked to change her hairstyle, has had a lawsuit against the airline dismissed by an Employment Tribunal after she accused her ex-employer of sex discrimination and constructive dismissal.

Marion McKay, 52, decided to sue British leisure airline Jet2 when she quit her job in August 2023 after just a year working for the carrier out of Edinburgh Airport. She accused Jet2 of sex discrimination because male employees with similar haircuts weren’t asked to change their style.

After a long and successful career in the police, McKay decided to pursue a new job working as a cabin crew for Jet2, where she flourished in her new career. Her managers praised her for being hardworking and a ‘great asset to the team’ and said they were sad to see her go when she resigned.

Despite doing well in her new job, things started to unravel for McKay in July 2023 when Jet2 held a uniform and grooming spot check. It was during this ‘Red Hot’ day that McKay found her hairstyle being scrutinised by bosses.

McKay has an undercut haircut, with long bleach blonde hair on top and a shaved back and sides, which she views as part of her identity. During her interview to join Jet2, the airline didn’t raise an issue with McKay’s but it did become an issue in July 2023.

Her base manager told McKay that she would need to ‘tweak’ her hairstyle in order to comply with Jet2’s uniform standards, which prohibit undercuts and ‘Mohican’ styles.

McKay came to the conclusion that she wouldn’t be allowed to fly unless she changed her hairstyle, and that would mean changing who she was as a person.

Several days later, McKay called in sick with stress, and a week later, McKay handed in her resignation. At her exit interview, McKay said she wanted to raise a formal grievance because two male cabin crew with similar haircuts had not been asked to change their styles to comply with Jet2’s grooming standards.

An investigation by the airline dismissed McKay’s grievance because the two male cabin crew didn’t have undercuts but McKay proceeded to file a complaint with a government cancellation service and then raised a compensation claim at an employment tribunal.

Earlier this month, however, the employment tribunal dismissed McKay’s lawsuit, finding that Jet2’s grooming standards apply equally to both male and female workers and that changes had already been made to ensure that there were no equality issues.

“The respondent had reasonable and proper cause for asking the claimant to adapt her hairstyle because it was in breach of the uniform policy and its actions were not calculated or likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence between the parties,” the ruling in the case explains.

“The claimant resigned because she was asked to change her hair but that request was not discriminatory. There was accordingly no discriminatory conduct which amounted to a breach of the implied duty of trust and confidence,” the ruling continued.

McKay left Jet2 and initially started working at Marks & Spencer before finding another job at a train company where she earns more than when she was at Jet2.