Weather anchor says she was fired over her curly hair

A weekend weather reporter claims she was fired from her on-air job at a Knoxville, Tennessee, TV station for her physical appearance on air, including having hair that her managers said was too curly. 

Tabitha Bartoe worked at WATE, an ABC station in Knoxville, since February. It was her first job out of college. Soon after she started, however, Bartoe repeatedly clashed with the station's management over her appearance, she told the Knoxvile News Sentinel. In one early appointment with the station's hairstylist, Bartoe said she was asked about getting her hair relaxed, with one person reportedly telling her that "If you straighten your hair, the curl will fall out over time; that's what we're looking for." 

In a subsequent hair appointment, however, management told the stylist to make Bartoe's curls "more defined," according to the Sentinel.