I've many friends with dreads and with the best will in the world, something you wash every few months if that, doesn't meet normally accepted standards of hygiene. That's true of whites with dreads as well, so it's not racist.

Having a standard that says "employee hair must be clean, neatly arranged, and safe for physical work" would probably have been fine. That's not what happened here. This candidate offered to conceal his hair and was told he had to cut it.

I have friends and professional colleagues with dreads and will tell you that none of them are unhygienic. Is it harder for them to keep their hair clean than it is for me? I don't know, because that's none of my business.

If you were managing, say, a catering business, then it would be your job to know.

If you were managing, say, a high-end restaurant kitchen, you might end up on ICA and judging Top Chef despite your dreads:

http://www.worldhum.com/travel-blog/item/interview-govind-ar...

You're just not going to get anywhere with this argument. There's nothing inherently wrong with dreadlocks.