DES MOINES, Iowa — A Chicago man who worked at Des Moines' TMC Transportation has filed a civil rights complaint against the trucking company for wrongful termination and discrimination.
Drew Harvey told Local 5 News on Thursday that he was let go by the company about two weeks ago because of a disagreement over the length of his hair.
Harvey said one of his supervisors had told him weeks into orientation that he was doing a "splendid job," but said Harvey had to cut his dreadlocks "by Friday, or you're not going to be able to continue with the company."
The supervisor allegedly told Harvey the company has a policy requiring employees have short hair in order to wear a hard hat during their shift.
Harvey claims many employees still worked with long hair, including himself. In a photo pictured below, Harvey says you can see him wearing his hard hat comfortably.
"I was wondering why I was being singled out," he said.
Harvey told his supervisor he'd trim his dreadlocks or wear his hair differently so the hard hat would fit to their "standards." Harvey says his hair is important to him and his culture, which is part of the reason why he didn't want to have to cut it completely.
After this suggestion, Harvey claims his supervisor said: "No, you're either going to do a buzz, or nothing."
"If [Harvey] were a white man in a similar position, I believe that he would have been treated differently," said Ben Lynch, a civil rights attorney representing Harvey in the complaint. "That's the pity. . . We need to make sure that other people are not treated the way that Drew was, and thrown away like garbage and sent home on a bus. After they quit their job and came to Iowa to start a new career."
Lynch said he and Harvey have not heard anything from TMC Transportation since filing the civil rights complaint a week ago. If the two sides cannot come to an agreement, Lynch plans to file a lawsuit.
TMC Transportation did not return Local 5 News' call for comment.