The city of South Fulton has settled a lawsuit alleging it forced a police officer to cut his Rastafari locs in violation of city policy and federal law.
Milton Myrie sued the city in December 2023, alleging he was told he had to cut off his locs in order to serve on the city’s police force. He claimed his superiors failed to tell him that he could apply to keep his locs on religious grounds.
Myrie said he learned of the possibility from the city’s human resources staff years too late, once he’d repeatedly cut his hair and developed a skin condition preventing it from growing back. He said he resigned from the city’s police force in February 2023 as a result.
A spokesperson for the city declined to comment on the case. A city attorney said there are no public records on the settlement at this time.
Lawyers for the city and Myrie informed the federal trial court in Atlanta of their agreement to resolve the case Monday. They did not disclose the settlement terms, saying they are finalizing associated documentation.
“The parties jointly report that they resolved the matter shortly after participating in mediation on July 18,” the attorneys said, adding they plan to formally dismiss the case in the next month or two.
Myrie’s lawyer in the case, Arnold Lizana, declined to share details of the settlement. He said Myrie still works in law enforcement.
In his complaint, Myrie sought to hold the city liable under the federal Civil Rights Act and the city’s CROWN Act of 2020, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.
A federal CROWN Act, prohibiting race-based hair discrimination, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in March 2022 but stalled in the U.S. Senate.
Myrie, a devout Rastafarian, had moved his family from New York to Atlanta for the job with South Fulton in early 2021, his lawsuit said. Myrie alleged he cut his locs, which he’d grown for 20 years, though it was one of the most traumatizing experiences of his life.
“On a single day, he was asked to turn his back on everything he believed in,” the lawsuit said. “Myrie’s faith and hair locs were a source of comfort and stability in his life. He had a deep and personal spiritual connection to his hair locs, and would not have cut them if he knew he could have kept them.”
Credit: Courtesy Milton Myrie
Credit: Courtesy Milton Myrie
Myrie accused the city of applying a double standard by allowing female police officers to keep their locs. He alleged other male officers were also pressured to cut their hair.
In November 2024, the city asked the court to throw out the case, saying none of the evidence showed liability. It also argued Myrie was too late raising his concerns with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in February 2023, days after he resigned.
The city said Myrie chose to shave his head in January 2021 before confirming with the city’s then-deputy chief of police whether that was required. It said Myrie didn’t ask human resources staff about whether he could have locs until February 2023.
“Plaintiff never informed (the deputy police chief) that he was Rastafarian or had any religious beliefs about maintaining the length of his hair,” the city said.
Losing his locs caused anxiety and depression, Myrie alleged. He said most employees in South Fulton’s police department were African American and that department leaders understood locs are commonly associated with the Rastafari culture and religion.
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