A black man is suing an Iowa-based trucking firm, alleging he was fired as a driver as a result of he refused to chop his dreadlocks.
Drew Harvey, 26, accused TMC Transportation and two of its workers of racism in a lawsuit he filed on September 26.
Harvey utilized to be a flat-bed truck driver with the corporate on June 4, and he was set to start his orientation on June 24, in response to court docket paperwork obtained by Folks.
The day after the orientation, Harvey was referred to as into a gathering with an HR consultant, in response to the grievance.
Harvey was allegedly informed ‘he wanted to chop his hair’ ‘or be fired.’ The rationale given, in response to the lawsuit, was that his hair was a ‘security problem.’
Drew Harvey, 26, has filed a lawsuit in opposition to TMC Transportation alleging he was racially discriminated in opposition to and wrongfully terminated due to his coiffure
In an interview with We Are Iowa, Harvey gave an inside look in how this assembly with HR went.
‘You have been doing a splendid job,’ he recalled being informed. ‘However you are going to have to chop your hair by Friday otherwise you’re not going to have the ability to proceed with the corporate.’
Harvey mentioned his supervisor informed him it was firm coverage that workers wanted to have brief hair so that arduous hats would match correctly.
Harvey claimed that this was the primary time he’d heard of the corporate having a selected coverage governing the hairstyles of its workers.
To treatment the difficulty, Harvey mentioned within the lawsuit that he supplied to trim or fashion his hair in another way.
The lawsuit additionally says he supplied to put on his hair in a wrap or buy a unique onerous hat in order that security would not be a problem.
The corporate allegedly rejected these proposals, which was when his employment was terminated, in response to the go well with.
Harvey, who traveled roughly six hours to the job from his dwelling in Crete, Illinois, to commute to the job was ‘despatched dwelling on a bus in tears.’
Harvey’s lawyer, Benjamin Lynch, claims that TMC hasn’t reached out to them relating to the lively litigation
‘TMC’s coverage is racist and inconsistently enforced,’ Harvey’s grievance acknowledged.
Harvey believes this as a result of he alleges he noticed a number of different non-black workers, female and male, had lengthy hair and did not undergo any form of reprisal from the corporate.
As such, the go well with mentioned this lengthy hair coverage was unfairly enforced, violating the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
The lawsuit argues that Harvey will ‘undergo accidents and damages, together with however not restricted to emotional misery, misplaced wages, lack of advantages, lack of future earnings, and different emoluments of employment.’
Harvey is searching for an unspecified quantity in damages.
Benjamin Lynch, Harvey’s lawyer, mentioned his shopper is at the moment looking for work.
‘That petition says that he actually cried on the best way dwelling,’ Lynch informed Folks. ‘That could be a true assertion, that he was very upset by this. He drove six hours to return right here and he acquired canned on the second day due to his hair.’
He continued: ‘So he is upset. It is an actual factor and we’ve not actually gotten any decision on it as a result of I’ve simply but to listen to again from TMC. So it is troubling.’
Lynch claimed that over a dozen different former TMC workers have related complaints to Harvey.
‘So along with him [Harvey] wanting decision on his matter, he additionally needs to make it possible for one thing like this does not occur once more,’ Lynch mentioned.
DailyMail.com approached TMC for remark.
