LETTERS: Court battle of the tresses

From Mr Gary Slapper Sir: How far corporations will be legally permitted to go in instructing employees about dress and hairstyles is unclear, although, as Sandra Barwick observes ("Dressed to send signals", 15 December), some companies have been almost perversely precise in their requirements.

The trouble is that the ultimate arbiters of this tussle, judges, are somewhat compromised. If, for example, Safeway appeals (on a point of law) against the decision that an employer cannot sack a worker for having long hair and a pony tail, the matter will go to the Court of Appeal where three mature men wearing long gowns and 18th-century horsehair wigs will have to decide the proper legal limits on proper dress.

Yours faithfully, GARY SLAPPER The Law School, Staffordshire University Stoke-on-Trent