Imagine going to work and being told you cannot discuss certain topics with customers. It isn’t your to be censored, but you understand and oblige. Now imagine a co-worker discussing those same taboo topics right beside you and nothing being done about it. You begin to realize it may not be the topics but rather your opinions that management wants to silence. Patricia had worked for the Great Clips on the island for eight months with no problems before transferring to the Cobblestone Great Clips. In total, she’s had a license to cut hair for five years. Her eight months at the Cobblestone store proved to be rocky at best.

Patricia claims most of her problems arose from politics. She was written up for an argument over Bush and Kerry that she wasn’t even involved in; the argument took place between a mother and daughter who came in to get haircuts. A Great Clips co-worker backed Patricia’s claim that although she (Patricia) agreed with the daughter, she neither started nor participated in the argument. The assistant manager, Janna, apologized and destroyed the write-up.

According to Patricia, the store manager, Anna, decided not to apologize but rather told her to not discuss politics — in particular Michael Moore books or Fahrenheit 9/11. Their meeting ended with Anna stating she felt that Bush needed to be in the White House. Anna denies this conversation took place. At this point, Patricia says she was fine with not discussing politics at work. If that would make things run smoother, no problem. However, one co-worker, Sheri, virtually made this impossible. There was the time that a man with a flat top came in for a hair cut and Patricia referred him to Sheri since she hadn’t done a flat top in years. Sheri told the customer that Patricia was anti-Bush. Allegedly the man called and complained later. This lead to what Patricia says was an almost weekly “calling into the office” and being reminded to not discuss politics.

Patricia then went to Sheri to ask her not to call her out to customers. It was hurting her tips. Once Sheri told a preacher that Patricia didn’t believe in God. In spite of all this, Patricia was the only one getting verbal reprimands. Sheri confirms this, stating she herself has worked for Great Clips over a year and has never been in any trouble; she also says that the entire staff was told to not discuss politics. Even though Sheri said Patricia would get irate, she believes “Everyone can have their opinion”. She claims that things between her and Patricia only got heated around election time, with everything “chilling out” afterward.

Undercover reporters get hair cuts, and an earful.

The Collective Press wanted to find out firsthand if Patricia’s story was true. So a couple of weeks after speaking with her, two people went in for haircuts when Patricia and Sheri were both working. One person pretended to be a huge Kerry fan (Sheri’s chair) while the other played an observer role (Patricia’s chair). At first, Sheri just went along with the Kerry supporter but after a couple of minutes she said, “Uh-oh, maybe she [Patricia] should’ve cut your hair.” Patricia stayed out of the conversation, except to say that she did support Kerry when she was called out by Sheri.

Although Sheri talked politics during the haircut and called Patricia out, things didn’t get heated until the end. As the Kerry supporter was leaving, Sheri shouted that she had no sympathy for “those” people [Middle-Eastern people]. She then added, “We should kill ’em all.” The observer undercover called to complain of Sheri’s remarks to both store manager Anna and corporate headquarters. Anna said she would talk to both Sheri and Patricia — instead of just Sheri, who the reporter/customer specifically called to complain about.

More bad business?

Patricia also claims that she informed her employer from the beginning that she couldn’t work more than 30 hours per week or longer than 6 hours per shift, due to severe back problems. These same back problems previously left her completely immobilized for three months. She even had a paper from her chiropractor explaining the seriousness of her condition. Patricia says she was regularly scheduled to work for eight hours. When her requests for shorter shifts were repeatedly ignored and her back started to flare up, Patricia began to come into work late. Patricia comments on the lack of understanding saying, “Anna takes painkillers for her back but I don’t do that to my body.”

Janna has cut hair for 24 years and was with Great Clips for over a year. Since the store manager was splitting time between the St. Augustine store and a Ponte Vedra store, Janna was asked to fill an assistant position that often resulted in extra duties. Janna backs up Patricia’s claims, going as far as saying “Sheri is bipolar”. She claims Sheri would discuss sex, politics, and even being drunk the night before. Janna told her employer of a toe injury and had a doctor’s note that stated she shouldn’t be on her feet for longer than 4 or 5 hour shifts. Janna claims she was still regularly scheduled for 7-8 hour shifts due to understaffing. Of Great Clips she said, “They’ll use you and use you.”

When asked if she was told to not discuss politics at work, Sheri says management told her not to. When informed of the undercovers, Sheri flat-out denied that the event took place. She asked to know what exactly she had said. When told, she again denied the allegations. Store manager Anna started off by saying that Patricia was a “very strong-minded person” and “if you didn’t agree [with her] there was an argument.” Anna claims Patricia was classified as “not rehireable” by the company, which sounds harsh considering Patricia was let go for calling in one day, and no other write-ups exist on her record. When told of her status, Patricia laughed saying, “One employee came in drunk, they fired her, and later she was even rehired”. Since Anna was contacted a couple of days after Sheri there is no doubt that she had heard of this Collective Press story. Anna says she received complaints about both of them but would address the entire staff instead of targeting one person to discuss “hair in the chair.”

When Anna was told of the undercovers’ story, she responded, “No, untrue.” Why would two undercover reporters (who have nothing to gain from a discrimination claim against Great Clips), a former assistant manager, and one current employee (who, of course, asked to remain anonymous to avoid retribution) all back up Patricia’s claims? Anna said, “This is ridiculous, you’re wasting your time,” because there was no documentation from Patricia’s chiropractor, adding “I only schedule according to customer flow.” She stated that Patricia was often late. Anna added, “I didn’t even vote, I’m not a political person. To be honest, I feel you’re wasting your time and mine.”

Both Janna and Patricia currently work at other salons, and they are much happier. Anna and Sheri remain employed at Great Clips in the Cobblestone shopping plaza.