Worker With Tongue Stud Gets Job Back

AN apartment-leasing agent who was fired after she pierced her tongue and then sued will go back to work Nov. 1 as part of an out-of-court settlement with her employer. On Saturday, representatives of Los Angeles-based Oakwood Worldwide delivered a letter inviting Mary Haudenshield, 29, back to work, two days after she filed a discrimination suit. Haudenshield agreed to drop the suit in exchange for getting back her job, which included an apartment in Oakwood’s Woodland Hills complex, back pay and paid time off through October. Haudenshield said she was fired Sept. 14 after refusing to remove a tongue stud she began wearing Sept. 3. She said she did not believe the stud was visible to others or in violation of any company dress code. Oakwood, a privately held company that provides corporate housing and apartment management services, issued a statement that said in part: “Although Oakwood has policies which place a high degree of emphasis on professional demeanor, the company recognizes that individuals may have different and changing views about what is appropriate in the workplace.”