New Court Ruling Compares Baldness to Sexual Harassment – Get the Details
When a man starts to experience baldness, the hair loss can start to have an impact on his self-image and the amount of confidence her feels on a daily basis. In addition, many people feel the need to comment on the appearance of the person experiencing the hair loss. While most people do not mean any type of insult towards the person with the loss of hair on the head, it can still negatively affect the person who is experiencing baldness. The issue of calling a person “bald” was addressed earlier this year in the United Kingdom and the court ruling might be surprising to some people.
Baldness = Sexual Harassment?
According to a ruling from an employment tribunal judge in the United Kingdom, calling a man “bald” can now be classified as an act of sexual harassment.
There were three members of the tribunal who made the decision on this ruling. In the explanation for their decision, the three tribunal members alluded to their personal experience with hair loss, and they also said that baldness is a more prevalent condition for men than it is for women. Because of baldness being more common for men, the tribunal members argued that using the world “bald” as an insult is related to a “protected characteristic of sex.”
To further illustrate their point, the tribunal compared the act of referring to a man as “bald” to the act of commenting on the size of the breasts of a woman (this comparison was based on a case from 1995).
A Case Involving the Use of “Bald” in the Workplace
The ruling was made on a case where the use of the word “bald” as an insult was alleged to have been made against a man by the name of Tony Finn. At the time the alleged insult happened, Finn was working as an electrician for the British Bung Manufacturing Company.
Finn had worked at the British Bung Manufacturing Company for almost 24 years. The company is located in Yorkshire (in the northeast part of England), and they manufacture cask closures that are used in the brewing industry. Finn was fired from the company last year and the circumstances that were involved in the reasons for his loss of employment were also part of the case heard by the tribunal.
As part of his case, Finn made the claim that was he referred to as a “bald c—” and also threated by Jamie King who was shift supervisor at the time the alleged incident took place in July 2019.
In their ruling, the tribunal determined that the use of this insult was a “violation against the claimant’s [Finn] dignity, it created an intimidating…environment for him, it was done for that purpose, and it related to the claimant’s sex.”
In addition, the members of the tribunal suggested that the use of profanity was not the issue since it was also determined that Finn used such language in the workplace. The tribunal stated, “Although, as we find, industrial language was commonplace on this West Yorkshire factory floor, in our judgment Mr. King crossed the line by making remarks personal to the claimant about his appearance.”
Although the amount of compensation for Finn has not been determined as of the writing of this article, he is set to receive some form of compensation according to the ruling of the tribunal.
Male Hair Loss – Why Does it Happen
In general, male pattern baldness is the most common type of hair loss experienced by men. The condition usually presents itself with the appearance of thinning hair or a receding hairline on the top and crown of the head of the person.
While there are a number of causes for male pattern baldness, some of the most common reasons include a genetic predisposition to balding or having a hormonal imbalance such as an elevation of DHT. When it comes to hair loss, patients have a few options that can address the issue of balding spots and thinning hair.
A hair transplant is considered to be the most effective and long-lasting treatment option as it transplants hair grafts from the donor area on the scalp (usually the back and sides of the scalp) into the balding sections on the head. Once these hair grafts are placed in the targeted area, they will remain there permanently and provide a greater amount of density and fullness to the hairline as well as give it a younger and more rejuvenated look.
Patients who are not sure about having a hair transplant (yet) can use minoxidil which is a topical medication that is applied directly to the impacted areas of the scalp. The medication is applied twice per day, and it must be used on a regular basis in order to maintain the results. If a patient stops using minoxidil on a continuing basis, the results that have been gained will be lost as time passes.
