Charles Craddock of Cleveland is studying mechanics at a local community college, and he needs a steady job to help pay his tuition, ABC News reports.
So it was a godsend when the 20-year-old landed a job recently as a food-service associate at Cedar Point amusement park, which describes itself as the “roller coaster capital of the world,” in Sandusky, Ohio, the report says.
One prerequisite, though, he says: He was instructed to cut his shoulder-length dreadlocks or lose his new job, which he obtained to help pay tuition at Cuyahoga Community College, ABC reports.
The news came after Craddock completed orientation and moved into dorms at the amusement park, he tells ABC News.
The amusement park, however, contradicted his claims, saying that he was told about the dress code. A park spokeswoman tells ABC that the standard for male workers is that their hair can’t be longer than their collars. Also banned are ponytails and “extreme hairstyles.”
And “any twisted hair has to meet the other requirements,” the spokeswoman says.
Furthermore, Craddock was not fired, Cedar Point spokesman Bryan Edwards said in a written statement to ABC News:
Charles Craddock resigned from his job as a food services associate on May 3rd because he chose not to comply with our grooming standards,. Mr. Craddock was informed … three times prior to moving into the dorms [that] his hair would need to be trimmed or pinned up to meet those guidelines. It’s important to note, we employ 5,000 associates and their personal appearance plays a very important role in Cedar Point’s overall image.
Although told he could pin up his hair, Craddock said a worker told him during training that he did not have that option, ABC’s report says.
“The trainer said I couldn’t pull it back,” Craddock tells ABC News. “He said I would have to cut it. They told me I had to leave because I wasn’t going to cut my hair.”
Read more at ABC News.