A New Jersey police officer filed a discrimination lawsuit after she was disciplined for wearing her hair in Bantu knots. Chian Weekes-Rivera is a 10-year veteran of the Maplewood Township Police Department.
The lawsuit, obtained by Atlanta Black Star, was filed against the Township of Maplewood and MPD Captain Peter Kuenzel on Oct. 30 at the state Superior Court in Essex County.
The complaint states that Weekes-Rivera who wore her hair in Bantu knots — a traditional African hairstyle — on Aug. 20 was in “violation” of the dress code. She was disciplined 11 days later on Aug. 31.
The lawsuit also states that her supervising sergeants were disciplined for refusing to discriminate against Weekes-Rivera.
“On August 31, 2023, Officer Weekes-Rivera was notified of an Internal Affairs Complaint regarding her ‘violation’ of Maplewood R&R 4.7.2 Manner of Dress on Duty,” states the lawsuit. “Her hair in Bantu Knots, but her supervising Sergeants were disciplined for ‘failure to supervise’ when they decidedly refused to discriminate against Officer Weekes-Rivera for her hairstyle.”
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Kuenzel also reportedly told Weekes-Rivera that she violated policy by wearing her hair in “rollers.”
“To get that paper, it was cringeworthy,” recalled Weekes-Rivera. “I had to ask him questions to stop myself from crying… It’s super embarrassing. It makes me feel like less than.”
Weekes-Rivera — who also was involved in an earlier, separate lawsuit against Maplewood that was brought by city employees challenging COVID-19 vaccination mandates — is requesting that a judge force Kuenzel and the township to comply with the CROWN Act and turn over policy copies on officers’ hairstyles as well as complaints about her hairstyle, according to the New Jersey Monitor.
The CROWN Act says that “traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture, hair type, and…
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