A Chicago man is suing a trucking company he claims he was fired from due to the length of his locs.
According to Local 5 News, Drew Harvey filed a civil rights complaint against TMC Transportation, alleging wrongful termination and discrimination.
Weeks into orientation, Harvey claims a supervisor who told him he was doing a “splendid job” ordered him to cut his dreadlocks “by Friday, or you’re not going to be able to continue with the company.”
The supervisor allegedly told Harvey that the company has a policy requiring employees to have short hair as they wear hard hats during their shifts.
However, Harvey said he could still wear his hard hat comfortably, and many other employees still work with long hair.
“I was wondering why I was being singled out,” he said.
Harvey told his supervisor that he could trim his locs or wear his hair differently to fit their “standards.” The supervisor allegedly told him: “No, you’re either going to do a buzz, or nothing.”
“If [Harvey] were a white man in a similar position, I believe that he would have been treated differently,” attorney Ben Lynch said in a statement. “That’s the pity. . . We need to make sure that other people are not treated the way that Drew was, and thrown away like garbage and sent home on a bus. After they quit their job and came to Iowa to start a new career.”
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