Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994                   TAG: 9406240002
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: D1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By SUSA BARCIELA KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LOOKS AND DRESS STILL COUNT, THOUGH THE LAWYERS MIGHT ARGUE

The issue is dress and appearance codes. Plenty of companies have them, usually for good business reasons. But how does a firm decide how far to go?

Harper, 29, was assistant manager at a Blockbuster video store in South Dade County, Fla. He was fired after nine months, he says, because the district manager deemed his ponytail ``extreme.'' Harper refused to trim it.

He knew the policy prohibits ``extremes in hair or jewelry style.'' But he was told that hair kept neat and pulled back would be acceptable, he says.

``I can understand a uniform,'' Harper says. ``You can put it on and take it off. But when you tell me how to wear my hair, that affects my personal life. And ... they are singling out the males.''

Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. says the issue is providing a comfortable, nonthreatening environment. ``Our focus is on serving the customers, not on accommodating someone wearing a ponytail,'' says George D. Johnson Jr., president of Blockbuster's domestic consumer division.

Sound Warehouse, a record chain that Blockbuster owns, fired two employees who complained last month to news organizations about new rules requiring hair to be two inches from the collar, banning earrings on men and limiting them to one per ear for women.

Admittedly, much depends on the business.

``We think all private parts should be covered,'' ad agency principal Bruce Turkel says. He imposes no code, trusting his 19 employees to dress as the occasion merits.

Turkel is the creative director at Turkel Advertising in Coconut Grove, Fla., which represents Spec's Music. He suggests that dress need not be conservative in a store that sells music and modern culture.

Blockbuster's policies, Johnson says, are driven by customer research. A clean-cut, consistent look is part of the plan to turn six different companies into a 500-store, 15,000-employee national chain of record shops, all to be called Blockbuster.

The plan is to cater to the over-35 crowd, which Johnson says feels threatened by those ``different than the norm.''

``We want you to know you can go into any Blockbuster, and you won't be surprised or offended and be treated with respect,'' he says. Even habitual jean wearer Richard Branson, the British founder of Virgin Group which has joint ventures with Blockbuster, would meet Blockbuster hair standards.

Walt Disney Co. has dress and grooming codes reputed to be among the strictest in the entertainment industry. At Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., you'll find no facial hair or long hair on men, no dangling earrings on women, no employee wearing sunglasses. The business reason: Every employee is considered a ``cast member'' with a role - and an appearance designed to complement the park's shows and exhibits.

``We do try to ensure that when people come through on vacation, the employees will be well-groomed, that they have that consistency,'' says Bill Logan, a publicist for Walt Disney World.

In training, cast members learn appearance codes and their objectives.

Employee appearance may indeed be crucial for some companies, but there are cautions.

``Some of the images companies want to portray are blatantly illegal,'' says Harry Brull at Personnel Decisions, consultants in Minneapolis.

Private firms generally have great leeway, but ``if the rule has a disparate impact, it raises the question of discrimination,'' says Bret Clark, a Miami civil rights lawyer.

He suggests that Wayne Huizenga, Blockbuster's balding chief executive, would look better in a ponytail.

Beyond legalities, there are human-resource issues.

``A company has a duty to inform, and employees should know what they are getting into,'' Brull says. Forcing employees to dress in a certain manner without explaining why won't encourage loyalty. Safety, for example, is why restaurants forbid dangling earrings.

``I would find it hard to believe an organization could prohibit earrings on men in today's environment, other than for safety reasons,'' Brull says.

``I don't care what their hair looks like. I care about the product,'' Turkel says. ``So why should I limit the talent pool?''