Devacurl

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DevaCurl is an American brand of hair care products which started in the salon. They opened their first salon in NYC in 1994.[1] The first Devachan salon was founded by Lorraine Massey and Dennis Da Silva, a hairstylist, developed the "Curly Girl Method" and authored the book "Curly Girl: The Handbook" as guidelines for naturally curly hair care.[2]

Racist workplace controversy

Charisse Samuel, a black manager at a DevaCurl brand hair salon says the SoHo location is a hotbed of racism and she was fired after years of speaking out against it, according to her $1.5 million lawsuit. Samuel says she started with the company in 2015 and while working at the DevaCurl salon on Broome Street called, Devachan, she saw rampant racism by white employees toward black staff and clients. However, many of the white employees of the company had an extremely hostile and racist reaction to the black client base and black employees, and they in turn created a racially hostile work environment according to her Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.

Few of the racist treatment she experiences are:

  • she “routinely” heard white stylists call black women’s hair “too big,” the “wrong texture,” “completely unmanageable,” or “dirty,”  and they would “just barely rinse the hair of black clients,” while using gloves, which they never used on white clients.
  • The white staff complained black customers didn’t tip well and the employees gave black clients poor service leaving them “sitting in the washing station or in the salon chairs while they sat in the break room socializing with other stylists."
  • White employees, “openly used stereotypical ‘black’ voice inflections when dealing with black and Hispanic clients,” and would refer to black customers as “ghetto,” “hood,” “rachet,” and other offensive slurs.
  • Pregnancy discrimination in 2015 — that a pregnant white woman didn’t — when she fought for accommodations like leaving early for doctors appointments, getting uninterrupted lunch breaks and time off of her feet.

Samuel says she consistently reported her concerns about racism to the higher-ups who brushed them under the rug. A salon rep said regarding this case that, at DevaCurl, discrimination of any kind is not tolerated. They are always striving to make DevaCurl a respectful and inclusive environment for all our stylists, employees and clients.[3]

Support to Black Lives Matter

Devacurl informed consumers on Sunday that it has given $50,000 to Black Lives Matter as well as sharing resources for customers who want to donate to the cause of antiracism.[4]

"We can no longer stand silent. Our voice is just one but we must speak up," the brand wrote on Instagram.

"We are absolutely horrified and angered by the continuing injustices against the Black community. We all have a role to play and must act in any way we can. Change needs to happen, now."[5]

Devacurl also reported 19% of their team members to be black including 8% in their leadership team. They have been open about their plan of action to increase their black leadership roles to 25% by 2021.[6]

References

  1. Our Story. devacurl.com. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  2. Silman, Anna. Thousands of Women Are Losing Their Hair. Is DevaCurl to Blame?".. March 6, 2020. thecut.com . Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  3. DeGregory, Priscilla. Ex-manager at Soho salon claims workplace was racist to black staff, clients. January 17, 2020. nypost.com. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  4. Rambharose, Amber. These Are the Fashion and Beauty Brands Donating to Black Lives Matter. June 2, 2020. glamour.com. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  5. Blackout Tuesday: How the beauty industry is supporting the Black Lives Matter cause. June 2, 2020. cosmeticsbusiness.com. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  6. Cox, Gracie. How The Beauty Industry is Supporting the BLM Movement. January 4, 2021. makeupandmane.com. Retrieved January 26, 2021.