Christian Patrick, 19, moved from Texas to Carlsbad, New Mexico, to work as a livestock brand inspector. Three days in, he says, a superior told him his hair “doesn’t look presentable.” Now he is suing the state agency that hired him.
Patrick wears his hair in locs, tied into a bun. His complaint, filed in Bernalillo County, accuses the New Mexico Livestock Board of race-based discrimination in violation of the New Mexico Human Rights Act. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico represents him.
His superior said the hairstyle was not presentable in front of the New Mexico livestock producers he would deal with. Barry Allen, the board’s chief law enforcement officer, then gave Patrick a choice: his hair or his job.
Patrick kept his hair. He lost the job.
The ACLU lawyers wrote that Allen’s remark about presentability made clear the decision rested on Patrick’s race and on a hairstyle commonly worn by others of his race. That is the lawyers’ claim in a pleading. No court has ruled on it, and these are allegations, not findings.
The case turns on a rule that is supposed to settle the question. New Mexico’s CROWN Act (the name stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) bars discrimination based on hair texture and protective styles such as locs, braids and twists. The law exists because employers and schools have long treated Black hair as a problem to be managed, with “professional” and “presentable” standing in for a look that white workers were never asked to change.
Patrick’s case also puts the state on the defending side. The Livestock Board is a state agency, so the employer accused of ignoring the state’s anti-discrimination law is the state itself.
The case is in Bernalillo County court. The Livestock Board’s side of the account was not available in the coverage reviewed.
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