?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Privacy%2C+Power%2C+and+Humiliation+at+Work%3A+Re-Examining+Appearance+Regulation+as+an+Invasion+of+Privacy&rft.creator=Fisk%2C+Catherine&rft.description=Workplace+rules+that+deny+fundamental+aspects+of+personal+autonomy+are+(in+many+states)+and+should+be+actionable+invasions+of+privacy.+Perhaps+nowhere+is+the+invasion+more+keenly+felt+than+when+an+employer+demands%2C+under+penalty+of+forfeiting+one's+livelihood%2C+that+one+dress+or+alter+one's+physical+appearance+in+a+way+that+one+finds+offensive%2C+degrading%2C+inappropriate%2C+or+alien.+Clothes+and+appearance+are+constitutive+of+how+we+see+and+feel+about+ourselves+and+how+we+construct+ourselves+for+the+rest+of+the+world+to+see.+Conventions+of+appearance+for+women+and+men%2C+for+racial%2C+ethnic%2C+and+religious+groups+express+and+observe+political+and+spiritual+commitments+that+affect+people+at+a+deep+psychological+level.%0D%0AIn+this+essay%2C+I+argue+that+the+legal+framework+of+autonomy+privacy+is+a+necessary+supplement+to+the+discrimination+analysis+that+has+dominated+legal+thinking+for+thirty-five+years+of+challenges+to+workplace+appearance+requirements.+Some+appearance+requirements+should+be+legally+suspect+even+when+they+do+not+discriminate+on+the+basis+of+a+protected+status.+A+privacy+analysis%2C+in+contrast+to+a+discrimination+analysis%2C+is+a+legal+theory+that+is+available+to+anyone+who+is+significantly+oppressed+by+an+unreasonable+workplace+dress+code.+Privacy+analysis+may+thus+be+more+resistant+to+charges+of+special+treatment+and+the+backlash+that+such+charges+can+generate.+From+the+employer's+standpoint%2C+privacy+analysis+allows+more+flexibility+and+nuance+in+distinguishing+appearance+regulations+that+are+legal+from+those+that+are+not.+It+might%2C+for+example%2C+preserve+the+ability+of+an+employer+to+require+some+dress+conventions%2C+including+some+that+may+reflect+gender%2C+religious%2C+and+other+norms%2C+while+ruling+out+others.+A+privacy+analysis+would+help+courts+distinguish+between+dress+codes+that+humiliate+and+those+that+do+not%2C+as+well+as+help+a+court+understand+that+a+dress+code+can+be+generally+valid+but+cannot+be+enforced+against+a+particular+employee+who+might+find+a+particular+dress+requirement+exceptionally+humiliating+or+offensive.%0D%0AWholly+apart+from+the+effects+of+a+privacy+analysis+on+the+outcome+of+litigation%2C+I+think+it+will+also+prompt+a+more+thoughtful+analysis+by+firms+of+whether+or+how+they+should+attempt+formally+to+regulate+employee+appearance+and+how+to+handle+the+employee+who+objects.+A+privacy+analysis+will+prompt+an+employer+to+consider+the+strength+of+its+justification+for+its+policy%2C+the+degree+of+humiliation+it+will+affect+on+particular+workers%2C+and+whether+the+harm+is+necessary+to+achieve+the+benefit.+A+discrimination+analysis%2C+by+contrast%2C+invites+an+employer+to+adopt+even+a+silly+appearance+regulation+(e.g.%2C+women+must+wear+make-up+and+nail+polish)+if+the+employer+can+convince+itself+that+the+regulation+is+not+sex+discrimination+because+it+equally+burdens+men+or+because+only+certain+women+will+object.+Privacy+analysis+will+thus+better+identify+and+accommodate+the+employer's+interest+in+the+appearance+of+its+workforce+with+interests+of+various+employees+in+being+free+from+humiliating+workplace+requirements.+&rft.date=2006&rft.type=Working+Paper&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Feprints.law.duke.edu%2F1320%2F1%2FPrivacy_Fisk.pdf&rft.identifier=Fisk%2C+Catherine+(2006)+Privacy%2C+Power%2C+and+Humiliation+at+Work%3A+Re-Examining+Appearance+Regulation+as+an+Invasion+of+Privacy.+[Working+Paper]+(Unpublished)&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Feprints.law.duke.edu%2F1320%2F