A Black man who filed a civil rights complaint against the Akron car dealership where he worked for racially discriminating against him because of his hairstyle won his case with the Akron Civil Rights Commission last week.
The commission unanimously decided that VanDevere Chevrolet violated the CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act amendment passed by the Akron City Council in 2020, which prohibits discrimination based on hairstyles and textures in workplaces and schools.
When Selekeh Korleh, now 29, started working as a sales consultant at the dealership in October of 2022, his hair was styled in short locs, and usually covered by a hat, he said in his complaint . As his locs grew longer, he attached beads and shells to his hair and stopped wearing the hat.
In July of 2023, a sales manager told Korleh that his hair was unprofessional and “getting out of control” and that he needed to wear a hat during his shifts, the complaint says…