I have worked for an advertising agency in the state of Montana for 3 years now. There are SEVERAL issues going on here that I need to be sure of before hiring an attorney:

1) I was hired with very long hair, held back neatly in a ponytail (no mention of men having ponytails in the employment contract). I cut my hair after awhile and had it short for 2 years before deciding to grow it back out. When my ponytail reached a whopping 4 inches (still professional haircut though) I was told "cut your hair or we reserve the right to fire you as the employee contract states that grooming must be neat and clean". Keep in mind that I wear a suit and tie every single day as to appear "neat and clean".

2) This same employment contract states that employees cannot wear jeans or open-toed shoes/sandals. I got written up for wearing jeans, but three other employees wear jeans on a weekly basis and two of them wear sandals/open-toed shoes (one has bright red flames on her sandals!). None of them has been written up or verbally warned. Is this discrimination?

3) I wear very small diamond earrings (I'm a dude), one in each ear. That isn't the problem, the problem is that a female coworker/sales manager told me, to my face, "that means that you are gay...'cause you have an earring in your left ear". I'm certainly not gay, and personally don't have any prejudices toward gay people, but isn't this an attack on my sexuality? Sexual harrassment? Creating a hostile work environment? When I took this matter up with her superior (her dad, incidentally) she denied it and daddy believed it and that was the end of it (I have it documented, but no witnesses).

4) I am a Democrat and everybody else is Republican (owner, managers, and both other coworkers) so during election years I get to hear, daily, how Democrats are stupid morons, dip****s, whatever along with anti-Democrat emails. Isn't this discrimination on basis of political beliefs?

5) Last year (year 2) I was expecting a 2-week paid vacation as stated in the employment contract. Instead, I only got a 1-week vacation and the other 5 days were deducted because over the course of a year I had been out of the office sick...we don't get sick days, paid or unpaid, but 5 days of my PAID vacation were taken away from me because I had "already used them up" by being sick or otherwise out of the office. Is it legal to deduct from a PAID VACATION by substituting UNPAID SICK DAYS? Or is this illegal, UNPAID WAGES?

6) This year's vacation (supposed to be 2-weeks paid) has been discounted to only one week because "we just can't afford for you to be out of the office that long". As an employee is that my problem or is that management's problem? Hire a temp, do it yourself, I don't care...I've already been screwed out of my paid vacation last year! (incidentally, my 1-year 1-week paid vacation had to be used at the employer's discretion and broken up into 3 mini-vacations...the employment contract clearly states "A paid VACATION"... where "A" and "VACATION" are singular which to me means 1 vacation).

Sorry this is so long, but I really need to know what my options are or what the best thing to do is. These people absolutely terrify me and bully me into all sorts of self-decimating things (giving up pay, working holidays, giving up vacations, being told I'm gay). Oh, also, the owner/boss/CEO asked me "are you high on drugs or something"...I don't do drugs, never have, so isn't this slander or at least defamation of character? HELP!

Charles

These issues are ALL matters of the employment contract you keep mentioning.

1. "Neat and clean" is subjective.
2. It's only illegal discrimination if you are being disciplined, while others are not, solely BECAUSE of protected characteristic, such as age, religion, gender, ethnic origin, race, etc. Not all discrimination is illegal.
3. I don't see that as a HWE or sexual harrassment either. It was one comment. I think you're being overly sensitive.
4. Political beliefs that you hold are not a protected class; therefore, you have no legal claim.
5. There is no law that mandates how paid-time-off is used. Your employer doesn't even have to legally provide it. What occurred was not a violation of any wage and hour law.
6. See #5. "A" vacation? You're stretching this WAY too far and reading WAY too much into the sentence.

See, here's the thing. NONE of what you referenced is against the law.
ALL of these items are either subjective, or a matter of the terms of your contract. You're welcome to have a local attorney advise you if you think any of the contract terms have been breached.

With regard to my magically-vanishing paid vacations, a local attorney has told me that substituting PAID days with UNPAID days is illegal...it's called UNPAID WAGES. My employment contract clearly states that I am to receive a 2-week PAID vacation. Now if the employer decides to replace a week of PAID vacation days with UNPAID sick days, that is a breech of his own contract and I would clearly be missing out on hourly wages that are promised me in that contract. I just want my paid vacation...I need it...I'm going nuts after working here under this kind of pressure for 3 years without a proper vacation! Seriously, a break from all this is very necessary as it is/has been causing health issues (anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, migraines, etc). Why can't I get a break?

It is NOT illegal to substitute your paid vacation days for days when you are not in the office due to illness. It might be a breach of your contract; since I haven't read your contract I don't know. But it is not against the law. If your attorney thinks it is, by all means ask him for the statute number or the name of the case law that says so.