The High Court has overturned a decision by Ligebehandlingsnævnet, the equality board, which ruled women were being discriminated against for having to pay higher prices for a haircut than men.
Ligebehandlingsnævnet made its ruling in 2012 following a complaint from a short-haired woman who successfully pointed out it was unfair of hairdressers to charge her more than a man with similar length hair.
The High Court's decision was a victory for several organisations – including advocacy group Dansk Organisation for selvstændige Frisører og Kosmetikere (DOFK) and the hairdressing chain Stender – that appealed against the equality board’s decision.
And it is now believed the decision may have implications for other cases in which the board found the Equality Act had been violated.
Victory for hairdressers
“I had hoped it would work out like this,” Connie Mikkelsen, a spokesperson for DOFK, told TV2 News. “I nearly jumped for joy when I got the news.”
The High Court found that haircuts for men and women are technically two different services, and that cutting a woman’s hair is more demanding, so the price difference was not discriminatory, but based on a different level of service.
Two different services
According to the judgment, it is not sexual discrimination to call services a 'ladies' cut’ or a 'master clip’.
Mikkelsen said the decision means that men will not be forced to pay more for a haircut.
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“Hairdressers are paid by commission and cannot take a pay cut,” she said.
