A British man whose body is almost completely covered in tattoos has revealed that he was hidden from his bosses because of his colorful ink.
Matthew Whelan - who legally changed his name to King Of Inkland King Body Art The Extreme Ink-ite - claims that he faced workplace discrimination at his job as a call center worker.
Having been dubbed "Britain's most tattooed man" (given that 90% of his body is covered in ink), the Birmingham native told The Daily Star about his experiences living with over 300 tattoos.
"You bring ultimate restrictions upon yourself by looking different. That's not just alternative people," the King of Inkland said.
"Basically the reason why you won't get a job is not that you look totally different, it's because people won't give you a job. It also depends on what the industry is and their dress code. I think a dress code should just be that - clothing," the 42-year-old added.
Speaking on his previous discrimination, the tattoo addict stated: "This appearance, this extreme alternative look can restrict people and has restricted me in the past, even when I've been in employment. I got shuffled around from one office to another when I was working in a call center. The managers were coming up so they decided to have a move around in the office."
"The person they got to move was me. I got shifted from one end of the office down to the bottom when the managers come up," he said.
Discrimination on the basis of tattoos is nothing new, in fact, many companies directly state that employees conceal visible tattoos. Interestingly enough, workers in the UK have no protection under discrimination legislation, per Attwells.
In the past, the King Of Inkland has led a campaign to protect the employment status of people with tattoos and other various body modifications, though not much has changed.
When it comes to tattoos, The Guardian reported that 30% of 25 to 39-year-olds had one or more, while a Healthline survey detailed that a whopping 75% of participants regretted at least one of their tattoos.
Chelsea and England footballer, Ross Barkley, even discussed his ink regrets, previously telling The Times in 2018 that he was removing his tattoo sleeve: "I got them at a young age and sometimes when you are young you do stupid things and do not think about it."
"But I went into it too quick and over the years I felt I wanted to get them removed," he added.
The King Of Inkland, however, has expressed no desire to remove his tattoos, which have cost him upwards of $27,000. The only thing left to do is hope employers will no longer discriminate against potential employees for their tattoo choices.
At the end of the day, it's all just ink, right? What do you think?