A Mobile, Alabama firefighter was fired from her job for tattooing the back of her head — even though she had covered it up by growing out her hair. And even though it wasn't even against the fire station's regulations, according to Kay'Ana Adams (via Yahoo!), until after a complaint about her tattoo was filed.
When Adams first got her tattoo, she says the fire department's policy was no "tattoos on the face or neck."
"Hiring people before, during and after me with neck tattoos more prominent than mine was also kind of impactful in that as well," she reportedly said. "I figured mine could be done in decency and order. I could also, based off the rules, cover it up."
But the rules changed after she got the head tattoo, and thus she was fired.
From Yahoo!:
According to Adams, the department changed the policy three months after she got her tattoo. The new policy prohibits head tattoos above the neckline.
When a captain at her station took a photo of the back of Adams' head on Nov. 10, the terminated firefighter said her tattoo was no longer visible. Still, Adams said she was fired on the day the photo was taken.
"Definitely blindsided, I never thought it would come to this, especially considering I was in compliance. I'm not necessarily out here trying to be disobedient and I'm not breaking any laws or anything like that, it's just a tattoo," Adams said. …
The former firefighter, who filed one grievance about the tattoo complaint against her, believes she was terminated because she spoke up about her concerns at the workplace.
The Alabama woman also filed complaints about harassment and antagonization, including sexist statements she allegedly heard from two male firefighters at her station.
To summarize, Alabama's Maryvale fire station needs a serious priority check if they believe risking ones own life to save others takes a back seat to showing up at work with an inkless scalp.
