By Jon Van
Tribune staff reporter
June 21, 2001
For telephone-line technician Nicholas Ficarra, the slender rod of metal inserted through his eyebrow is part fashion statement and part declaration of personal freedom.
But for his employer, Ameritech Corp., that same piece of jewelry is a potentially fatal hazard, since it might obstruct Ficarra's vision. Another concern is that the jewelry could conduct electricity in an accident, according to a regulatory agency.
Ficarra and two other Ameritech line workers either lose the jewelry or their jobs, the phone company says. No way, say the workers, who were suspended last week without pay pending a resolution.
"It may seem like a little issue to some people, but years ago they didn't let people wear beards," said Ficarra, 22, one of the suspended linemen. "We feel we're being discriminated against because of one person's opinion."
Full Story
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"I suspect that many an ailurophobe hates cats only because he feels they are better people than he is; more honest, more secure, more loved, more whatever he is not."
--Winifred Carriere
Tribune staff reporter
June 21, 2001
For telephone-line technician Nicholas Ficarra, the slender rod of metal inserted through his eyebrow is part fashion statement and part declaration of personal freedom.
But for his employer, Ameritech Corp., that same piece of jewelry is a potentially fatal hazard, since it might obstruct Ficarra's vision. Another concern is that the jewelry could conduct electricity in an accident, according to a regulatory agency.
Ficarra and two other Ameritech line workers either lose the jewelry or their jobs, the phone company says. No way, say the workers, who were suspended last week without pay pending a resolution.
"It may seem like a little issue to some people, but years ago they didn't let people wear beards," said Ficarra, 22, one of the suspended linemen. "We feel we're being discriminated against because of one person's opinion."
Full Story
------------------
"I suspect that many an ailurophobe hates cats only because he feels they are better people than he is; more honest, more secure, more loved, more whatever he is not."
--Winifred Carriere