Ex-PPG Paints Arena worker sues Aramark for racial discrimination over Afro
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A Black woman is suing the company that runs concessions at PPG Paints Arena alleging that they discriminated against her because of her Afro.
Asani Porch, of Spring Hill, filed the lawsuit against Aramark Sports and Entertainment Services LLC in federal court on Thursday alleging race discrimination and a violation of the city’s CROWN Act, which prohibits discrimination because of a person’s hair texture or style.
She is seeking back pay and damages.
Aramark on Friday did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Porch began working for Aramark in August 2022 as a cashier and bartender during hockey games and concerts. She earned $14 per hour plus tips.
She was required to wear a uniform, which included a hat. Initially, the lawsuit said, Porch wore a wig of silky straight hair over her natural hair to accommodate the hat. The lawsuit said that when Porch first started working there, her coworkers were permitted to wear hairnets instead of a hat. (The lawsuit does not identify the race of the coworkers.)
However, shortly after she started, Porch stopped wearing the wig and wore her natural hair, which the complaint described as an Afro.
“Ms. Porch attempted on numerous occasions to wear her uniform’s hat over her Afro, but the hat would not stay in place and would fall off,” the complaint said. “The struggle to keep her hat on during each workday interfered with Ms. Porch’s ability to fully perform her duties, was humiliating and caused her severe emotional distress.”
Soon after, the lawsuit said, Porch’s white supervisor reprimanded her for struggling to wear the hat.
Porch asked the supervisor for a reasonable accommodation, including wearing a hairnet, but he refused “and instructed her to wear the hat or quit,” according to the lawsuit.
In October 2022, Porch went to human resources and filed a complaint alleging race discrimination.
The HR representative told her “the hat was ‘part of the uniform, you have to wear it if you want to work here,” the suit said.
On Nov. 29, Porch’s supervisor told her he would give her a written warning and send her home if she didn’t wear the hat.
Porch again went to HR to complain, saying, “The hat does not cater to people like me, African American, and other races.”
The HR person reiterated the hat was part of the uniform and that the written warning would not be retracted, the complaint said.
Porch resigned.
The lawsuit also alleges retaliation and a hostile work environment.
The CROWN Act — Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair — is a law passed by both the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County that prohibits discrimination based on a person’s texture or style of hair.
A similar bill passed the Pennsylvania state House and is pending in the Senate.
Porch is seeking lost wages, front pay and compensatory damages.