Beautician with Bad Breath Wins Lawsuit, Loses Job
Tuesday, September 4th, 2012
Was it her bad breath? Her boss says it was – at least, in part. New Zealand resident Rashmi Bhola was sacked from her job as a hairdresser not too long ago, and now news sources report that she’s been awarded $8,000 as part of a settlement over an unjustified dismissal.
Can people get fired for having halitosis? Should oral odor be a terminable offense? While you probably shouldn’t get canned for bad breath alone, it does appear to happen.
Although, from the sound of it, Bhola had bad breath and a bad attitude.
A lot of hot air
According to the Otago Daily Times, Bhola worked as a hairdresser and beautician in Kess Hair and Beauty, an Auckland-based salon. Her manager, Gurpreet Arora, did not have good things to say about her, noting that just three weeks after she started, he had to give her a verbal warning for gossiping about his family to other employees. Arora also kept hearing from customers that Bhola was “arrogant and unwilling to listen to the customers requirements.”
But the worst part, apparently, was her breath.
Both her co-workers and her clients complained that Bhola had truly atrocious halitosis. The court report explains that her boss “was cautious about raising this with Mrs. Bhola and made suggestions that she should perhaps chew mints or receive some assistance from a dentist.”
