Bariq Fluellen, a veteran firefighter, has filed a complaint to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission against the city of Philadelphia, which provides money for the Philadelphia Fire Department.
The commission forbids employment discrimination based on race or characteristics linked with race, such as hair texture and protective hairstyles like locs, braids, and twists.
Fluellen works in the Ladder 8, Engine 19 fire station, which is located at 300 E. Chelten Ave. in the Germantown neighborhood of the city. He said that since joining the Philadelphia Fire Department in September 2013, he has consistently earned good performance reviews.
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Fluellen’s locs are an integral aspect of his identity as a Black man and Rastafarian, he said.
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However, he claimed to have been mocked with names like “Rapunzel” and “Hairy,” as well as received yells and jeers from coworkers who accused him of being “too busy putting his hair in a bun” to respond to a fire.
According to Fluellen, even though firefighters are not allowed to have hair longer than two inches on top and one and a half inches on the sides due to safety concerns, his traditional dreadlocks have not prevented him from passing fit tests that ensure he can use specific safety equipment.
According to his complaint, white female firefighters and one white male firefighter “have worn their hair down or in a long ponytail at the scene of a fire” without criticism or remarks, and he claimed that pinning up or securing hair is allowed at work. Fluellen said that he was threatened with disciplinary action.
“My hair is a reflection of my authentic self—as a Black man, as a firefighter, and as someone who’s proud of my culture,” Fluellen said. “Being told that I don’t belong or that I’m unsafe simply because of how I wear my hair is deeply painful. I’ve earned my place in this department, and I shouldn’t have to choose between my profession and my identity.”
Although he has not been fired or suspended, he claimed that he has “suffered humiliation, emotional distress, and physical pain and suffering.”
Additionally, Fluellen claimed that the fire station captain had threatened to discipline him virtually every day if he didn’t “do something about his hair.”
He expressed concern about the impact of comments on “camaraderie” on the job, which he claimed relates to his sense of safety because firemen rely on one another in risky situations. He also mentioned that he has had “insomnia, sleeplessness, and recurring nightmares.”
The station captain also threatened to “cut his hair while he slept,” according to Fluellen, who also claimed that his employer had warned him, “I know that you are testing me, but you are going to fail that test.”
Fluellen stated that he was frequently singled out in the fire station’s kitchen and other areas in front of others. According to him, the station captain made a remark in front of other people that his hair “It’s a foot long in the back.” “Do I have to get a ruler out?”
Additionally, the captain is accused of saying, “I’ll give you a month and then you’ll have to cut your hair,” and threatened to write him up for violating the hair regulations.
Before a promotional exam for the rank of lieutenant, Fluellen was informed that his hair length was a safety risk and that “part of the exam is appearance, and they’ll definitely give you a zero.”
During a fire-training video in which a firefighter was enveloped in flames after incorrectly stored fireworks detonated, Fluellen stated that he was told “You’d be a goner with your hair all over the place like that.”
According to Fluellen, he made multiple attempts to schedule a meeting before reporting the harassment to the head of human resources at the Philadelphia Fire Department in April 2022. According to him, he was told “not to cut his hair.” But nothing was done to put an end to the harassment or remarks that persisted, Fluellen stated in the complaint brought by the Public Interest Law Center.
According to the Public Interest Law Center’s legal director, Mimi McKenzie, the complaint Fluellen filed aims to end the discriminatory policy’s enforcement, adopt a grooming policy that respects cultural and protective hairstyles, and provide compensatory damages for the pain and suffering, professional harm, and emotional distress that Fluellen has endured.
McKenzie stated, “This policy, by PFD’s own admission, serves no legitimate safety purpose. We cannot allow it to be used as a tool of racial discrimination. When an employee meets every performance and safety standard but is still targeted because of their hair, it is clear the policy is not about safety, it is about exclusion and control.”
Per the fire department regulations, hairstyles that “do not allow personnel to (properly) wear headgear,” such as a SCBA facepiece and head harness, “or that allow hair to come in contact with the surface of the SCBA facepiece,” are prohibited.
The rules also specify that “hair, when combed, brushed, or otherwise worn, shall not extend below the tops of the uniform shirt collar or a properly-worn uniform shirt” and that “hair, as defined by the mass of the hair as it protrudes from the scalp as opposed to the length of the hair, may not exceed two inches in bulk.”
The requirements apply to all hairstyles, including braids, ponytails, locks, crew cuts, and cornrows, according to the company directives, which also declare that “for grooming, the most important factor is safety.”
Penalties for breaking grooming regulations include “short- and long-term suspension without pay and termination,” according to the guidelines.
The new uniform regulation for Philadelphia firefighters is scheduled to take effect on July 1. This prompted a conversation between Fluellen and a deputy chief’s assistant over the spring, who inquired, “So what will you do with your hair now? We’re going to take it from you.”
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