AKRON, Ohio — There’s a renewed push to pass the CROWN Act in Ohio after Seleke Korleh says he was forced to choose between his job and his hairstyle.
News 5’s Remi Murrey asked: “You never thought it was something that was going to happen to you?”
“To me, no. Not this. Not in a million years,” said Korleh.
For Korleh, hair is a form of self-expression.
“It’s different styles, and people choose different styles, and this is something that I choose,” said Korleh.
Korleh says everyone accepted his locs until October 2022.
“When I started at VanDevere, my hair had locs and as my hair began to grow, they had an issue. They treated me differently. Ultimately, it led them to giving me an ultimatum. The management told me I either had to cut my hair, wear a hat or get a less-paying job,” said Korleh.
Korleh says he did not want to strip away his identity, so he says he chose to walk away from his Sales Consultant job at VanDevere Chevrolet in August.
“It felt terrible because, at the end of the day, I was just getting up every day, trying to make a living for myself,” said Korleh.
But Korleh says he feels that opportunity was taken away from him when he says he was judged on his appearance rather than his work ethic.
“For you to say my hair is unprofessional and people that look like me come in here and purchase a vehicle every day, that’s an insult to me,” said Korleh.
News 5 reached out to VanDevere Chevrolet for comment and General Manager Brian VanDevere says they did not have a statement to provide to us at this time.
Imokhai Okolo, managing attorney at the Okolo Law Firm and the attorney representing Korleh, filed a complaint several weeks ago with the Akron Civil Rights Commission, alleging VanDevere management’s request to change Korleh's hair amounted to race-based employment discrimination.
“Here in Ohio, when you allege workplace discrimination, first you have to go through an administrative process and that administrative process can be on the city level and local level, or it can be on the state level with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission,” said Okolo.
Okolo says his firm has to move forward and seek race-based hair discrimination claims from Akron because the CROWN Act has not been passed in Ohio.
This legislation would help protect people’s right to wear their hair in any style, including in its natural state.
“I just want whatever justice to be served. That’s what I want. I know it’s not going to make me feel any different like I still feel bad. I don’t know if anything is going to change what happened. I just want something to be done,” said Korleh.
Okolo says the commission will review this case, conduct its own investigation and then proceed with a trial, if necessary, to present both sides.
