Eunice Hollins, an African American, sued her employer Atlantic Company, Inc., along with its associated companies, alleging unlawful disparate treatment on the basis of race. She also alleged unlawful retaliation for her filing a disparate treatment claim with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). On August 17, 1994, Hollins came to work her hair styled in finger waves. He foreman, Joseph Konopiski, told her that her hairstyle was unacceptable because it was too different and it did not meet the company’s policy. She tried other hairstyles and they were all deemed as unacceptable because they were either too different or too eye-catching. Even the pulled back ponytails she wore that
