shoreditch hairdressser in religious discrimination case

Sarah Desrosiers, a hairdresser living in Kingsland Road, Shoreditch is being sued by a muslim woman who wears a traditional headscarf. Bushra Noah failed to secure a job as a stylist in the fashionable Kings Cross salon Wedge in March. Sarah Desrosiers says for her business to succeed her staff must embody the values and image of the salon, which provides urban, funky haircuts, and an individual wearing a headscarf cannot do this. Bushra Noah claims that this is an example of religious discrimination.

"The essence of my line of work is the display of hair," says Sarah Desrosiers. "To me, it's absolutely basic that people should be able to see the stylist's hair. It has nothing to do with religion. Ihave never discriminated against muslims. My name is being dragged through the mud and I feel victimised."

Bushra Noah is suing the salon for £15,000 in a case that will be heard in January.

"Wearing a headscarf is very important in my religion and non-negotiable," she says. "It has always been my ambition to be a hairdresser but I have given up now after being rejected twenty five times. It is always because of my headscarf whether they say it or not."