Mayor in California Wants to Ban Neckties

As laid back as our California friends may be, one mayor there wants to help make work a lot more casual. 

R. Rex Parris, the mayor of Lancaster, California, says he wants to ban workplace dress codes that require wearing neckties, after reading a science blog that claimed they restrict 7.5 percent of blood to the brain. 

“I spend a lot of hours every week on an elliptical or a bike just to increase blood flow to my brain, and it turns out every morning when I put on a tie I’m diminishing it,” Parris told the Los Angeles Times

Parris proposed the idea at a City Council meeting on Tuesday, running it by the city's attorney. If a ban were to move forward, the city would be required to provide proof that ties are detrimental to public health. 

The New York City Commission on Human Rights may agree with Parris. In 2015, the agency issued guidance on gender identity which said that employers who require men to wear ties or women to wear skirts could technically be violating the law. 

Parris says he hopes to help Lancaster employees make a choice whether they want to wear a tie to work or not at the very least. He compared wearing ties to companies demanding that women wear heels to work, a policy that can seem outdated to many today. 

“I don’t think it’s appropriate in America today to make anyone do something that is now known to be detrimental to your health. Especially if it’s based on gender," said Parris. 

The city's Criminal Justice Commission will look into whether the rule is practical. 


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