Company blasted for discriminating against bald man

By Kang Aa-young, Park Si-soo

Unable to get a job because of hair loss? It sounds bizarre and ridiculous, but it happened at a South Korean company.

Thankfully, the state human rights watchdog put a stop to this appalling practice. But the incident revealed how basic human rights can be ignored for nonsensical reasons.

According to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRC), a man applied for a job with a building management company in August 2015. He passed all the recruiting procedures and received final notice of his employment.

But days after, he was told his employment had been cancelled because, he claimed, he was bald.

The company said the cancellation was due to “critical flaws” found after he received confirmation he had been hired. But the man found hard and circumstantial evidence suggesting his baldness was the sole reason.

He filed a petition with the commission, demanding the company withdraw the cancellation. The human rights advocate verified his claim to be true through a fact-finding investigation and demanded that the company hire the man although it was not legally required to comply.

“Being bald . . . is a natural consequence that can’t be reversed by human control. So putting someone at a disadvantage in employment for one’s baldness is a discrimination that can’t be accepted under any circumstances,” said a NHRC official.