Page 52 of Token

For a moment he didn’t say anything, simply stared at her, mouth compressed into a straight line. Then he scrubbed his hands over his face, making him appear more weary than vexed.

“When I told Alex—Miss Montgomery—to fix her hair, it had nothing to do with the style. It was the color. Parts of it were green and pink. Not the whole head, mind you, just the bottom half. Or maybe it was a third. I can’t really remember anymore. But it was dyed those crazy colors. I can’t believe she expected me to let her on air looking like that.”

He paused to inhale an agitated breath, before barreling on. “She never said that when she filed the complaint, you know, that she had it colored like that. And no matter how often I told them, they didn’t want to listen. Call me old-fashioned, but I run a professional shop. I expect everyone to look and dress appropriately for their job. I got a bunch of guys who have tattoos and that’s fine. They’re usually covered and they work behind the scenes. But hair the colors of the rainbow is where I draw the line. Always have and always will. I don’t care what color skin you have.”

And with that, Joseph Russo threw her a partial lifeline she might be able to use to save his job. “For clarification purposes, does the station have a policy regarding hair color?”

His response came with a slow contemplative shake of his head. “Not that I’m aware of. But you’d think these are things you wouldn’t have to tell grown adults. They’re not a bunch of clowns and they’re not coming to work at a goddamn circus.”

Such eloquence.Kennedy bit down on her bottom lip to tamp down a smile. “So that’s a no. Got it.”

Strike one.The hair-color defense had just taken its first blow, but it was still a viable one. It certainly couldn’t be considered racially discriminatory.

“All right, then. Is there any way you can prove what you’re saying is true?”

“What do you mean? That she came to work with the different colors in her hair?”

“No, that you refused to put her on air because of the color and not her hairstyle.”

Joseph Russo did nothing to hide his frustration, his mouth twisting. “How am I supposed to prove that?I’mtelling you that’s why I sent her home.”

Kennedy wondered if he understood the deep existential meaning ofhe said, she said. It appeared she’d have to give him a crash course. “Which I understand, but not everyone is going to take you at your word. Some people will believe you’re using it as an excuse to cover your true motive. You wouldn’t, by any chance, have any other Black female employees with similar hairstyles?” She knew it was a stretch, but she had to try.

The senior producer threw up his hands in exasperation. “Oh, for Christ’s sake, this whole thing is hogwash.No.Miss Montgomery is the only African American female on-air reporter at the station.”

And then it happened: a strategically placed strand of hair became dislodged, revealing a patch of bald skin as it dangled in his face.

Neither of them spoke for several moments. Kennedy refused to breathe, fearing she was one tittering laugh away from losing her shit—and the account. Then he did the only thing he could under the dire circumstances. He swept the errant hair back in place.

Kennedy finally breathed. Crisis averted.

“The only one, huh,” she mused aloud, picking up seamlessly where they’d left off. They might want to change that.But that was a conversation for another day and with the executive producers, who were usually in charge of staffing.

“What about your off-air employees or the office staff?”

“There’s an admin assistant but her hair is fine,” he muttered, looking decidedly uncomfortable.

“How so?”

“How so what?” he asked, perplexed.

“You said her hair was fine. What exactly did you mean by that?”

Tugging self-consciously on his right earlobe, he shifted in his seat. “The color.”

“I didn’t ask you about the color. I asked if there were any other Black females with a similar hairstyle as Miss Montgomery and you said the admin assistant’s hair was fine. All I want to know is what you meant by that,” she said patiently. Sometimes, if she gave them enough rope, they somehow managed to bind their hands behind their own backs.

“Her hair is smooth but sort of wavy.”

So no braids for the lone female Black admin assistant.Got it.However, she was picking up some definite hair bias. Straightened hair was fine, but braids were not.

“Have you taken issue with any other employee’s hair color before?” He’d given her something to go on, but it would be an uphill climb if the one and only time he’d ever raised the topic of inappropriate hair color was with Miss Montgomery. But they’d go with the hair-color defense if that was all they had.

It had nothing to do with hair discrimination—he’s just a crotchety old curmudgeon, Your Honor, sounded about right.

His brow furrowed in concentration. “Actually, there was this kid about five years ago. He didn’t work at the station long. Young, longish hair, and a couple tattoos on his arms, but, for the most part, he kept them covered. He came to work one day with the bottom part of his hair dyed blue or purple. I can’t really remember which color. I’m pretty sure he was high that day too.”

Promising.Kennedy picked up a pen and drew her notepad closer. “What did you do?”

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