'Headscarf doesn't fit our funky image' says salon owner who turned down Muslim stylist

Sarah Desrosiers, 32, told a tribunal it was vital that all her staff show off "flamboyant" haircuts at the Wedge salon in King's Cross.

And Miss Desrosiers, from Hackney, said 19-year-old Mrs Bushra Noah's headscarf was out of keeping with the "ultra-modern, urban, edgy and funky" style of her business.

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The salon owner added she adopted a cutting-edge hair style on entering the industry which she says is essential to work as a stylist.

Miss Desrosiers told Central London Employment Tribunal that Mrs Noah's religious beliefs played no part in her decision to turn the then 18-year-old down in March last year.

"I am not a racist and I do not discriminate against anyone on any grounds, not least of all race, religion or belief.

"I have no prejudice against Muslims or any other religion for that matter," she said.

"My hair salon is unique in the area where I work and is seen and perceived as an alternative salon.

"Anyone who works in my salon would be expected to help with the promotion of the salon.

"If an employee in my salon wore any type of head covering I would ask them to remove it."

Mrs Noah is claiming £34,000 in compensation for religious discrimination from Miss Desrosiers, who says she faces financial ruin if she loses the case.

Mrs Noah, from Acton, claims she could have done well at the salon with walls adorned with graffiti, despite insisting that keeping her headscarf on is essential to her beliefs.

She told the tribunal: "I know my punk from my funk and my urban from my trendy."

Miss Desrosiers founded her salon in King's Cross to target the "large population who wear their hair in the way that I offer."

She added: "In every hair salon, I have ever worked the stylists and assistant stylists have been expected to, and did, exhibit their hairstyles, which changed on a regular basis.

"When I set up Wedge, it was my intention to offer an alternative form of hairdressing, which is ultra-modern and may be described as urban, edgy and funky."

The businesswoman said she initially ruled Mrs Noah out for the job because she lived too far from the salon to be 'on call' but agreed to an interview after Mrs Noah begged to be seen.

She denied Mrs Noah's claims that she also offered her a trial day and was "in shock" when she first saw the interviewee's headscarf.

"Mrs Noah's reasons for wearing the headscarf did not play any part in my thinking in relation to whether or not I offered her a job," she said.

But Mrs Noah, who had worked as a stylist before getting married in Syria in June 2006, claims she was so depressed by Miss Desrosiers rejection that she left the hair dressing trade soon afterwards.

She is now studying tourism and said of the interview at the Wedge salon: "She [Miss Desrosiers] just looked at me as if I was wasting her time.

"She said: 'You really should have told me on the phone that you wore a headscarf and I would have told you not to come in'."

"I was so depressed after my interview with Miss Desrosiers that I decided to try a different career. Having dreamed of being a hairdresser since an early age, this was a big decision for me."

The hearing continues.