Former South Fulton police officer files lawsuit against city after being told to cut locs

By Ellie Parker

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    SOUTH FULTON, Georgia (WANF) — A former South Fulton police officer and devout Rastafarian has filed against the city after he alleged he was forced to his hair.

In the lawsuit, Milton Myrie claims he was told to cut his locs he had growing for 20 years in order to obtain a job with the department. He says he was only told he had to cut his hair after meeting with recruiters several times and moving from New York to Atlanta to accept the job.

Myrie is a devout Rastafarian. In the Rastafarian faith, “the locs symbolized his connection to biblical wisdom.” He had received a religious accommodation from a previous employer and according to the lawsuit, cutting his hair was “one of the most traumatizing experiences of his life.”

However, the lawsuit says Myrie was repeatedly denied requests for a religious accommodation from the South Fulton Police Department despite the department’s “(understanding) that locs are commonly associated with the Rastafarian culture and religion.”

The lawsuit also alleges forcing Myrie to cut his hair violated South Fulton’s own CROWN Act, which made discrimination based on hairstyle unlawful.

The lawsuit claims another cadet witnessed a lieutenant asking other supervisors ”Why y’all tell him to cut his locs? We can get sued for that.”

Myrie also claims the department held a sex-based double standard. The lawsuit alleges multiple female officers had locks without complaint, while multiple male officers were told to cut theirs.

Myrie is suing the department based on violations of the city’s CROWN Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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