[amusedofficial]

The officials are independent contractors, who in most cases are employed for games by public schools and public school leagues, or by private schools, including colleges, that receive federal funds. The assignor is the agent for the schools in finding and hiring offficials, and sometimes in paying them, althrough with the school's funds. Thus the schools can be responsible for the actions of the agent.

It has been widely held that federal discrimination laws do not apply to independent contractors. However, section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 provides that that law covers "the enjoyment of all benefits, privileges, terms, and condition of the contractual relationship."

Consider certain facts:

First, virtually all schools take federal money, directly or indirectly, even if it's just for school lunches. As a result, they fall under the federal Civil Rights acts.

Second, some manner of grooming is ethnically oriented and some manner of grooming is age oriented. You don't see many white guys with cornrows' or dreadlocks. In some cultures, certain manners of grooming are considered normal, attractive or even expected.

Third, while being an independent contractor may shield the employer against specific equal employment opportunity laws, the independent contractor is entitled to be free from unlawful discrimination in enjoying the full benefit of the independent contractor relationship. Therefore, discrimination that is based on ethnicity, and for which there is no bone fide occupational reason, may be actionable.

When assignors threaten a loss of employment opportunity based on culturally-differentiated grooming styles, or perhaps even on age-differentiated grooming styles, they could expose themselves and the public schools (or publicly-aided private schools) for which they assign to litigation.