‘Humiliating’ and ‘Unnecessary’: Black Man Fired After Bucking In-N-Out Burger’s Demand to Cut His Sideburns Is Now Suing the Chain for $3.2 Million
A Black man is suing California-based fast food chain In-N-Out Burger for racial discrimination, claiming he was fired after refusing to change his African-American hairstyle.
Elijah Obeng, 21, started working at In-N-Out Burger in Irvine, California shortly after graduating from high school in June 2020. At first, his natural hairstyle was in compliance with the chain’s grooming policies, which require male employees to be clean-shaven and to wear company-issued hats in which all hair must be tucked underneath, according to his lawsuit filed in Compton Superior Court on June 11 and obtained by Atlanta Black Star.
As his hair grew longer, management told him to cut his hair or alter it to fit entirely under the hat. To comply, Obeng began braiding his hair, he says. But then his supervisor told him that his sideburns also needed to be removed.
Finding that directive humiliating and discriminatory, and believing that complying with it would compromise his cultural identity, Obeng resisted, the complaint says. And “when he could not continuously conform to the company’s grooming expectations,” he began to be treated differently, he claims.
That disparate treatment allegedly included being reprimanded for minor infractions, such as not attending meetings, while other employees were not disciplined for similar conduct. He says that despite performing his job satisfactorily and with pride, his work was scrutinized more harshly, and he was denied opportunities for promotion and advancement.
The issue came to a head on May 25, 2024, when Obeng clocked in for work. Within minutes, the lawsuit says, his supervisor told him, in front of his co-workers, to go home, shave, and return. Obeng did not have any facial hair other than natural sideburns that were part of his hairstyle, the complaint says.
Publicly humiliated, Obeng says he went home, but then decided the grooming requirement was “discriminatory and unnecessary,” and messaged his supervisor that he would return at his next scheduled shift.
He was fired a few days later, his supervisor citing prior write-ups. But Obeng alleges the real reason for his firing was his natural hair and resistance to the company’s discriminatory policies.
Obeng’s lawsuit claims that In-N-Out Burger and 10 company employees violated state civil rights and employment law, including California’s CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair) Act, by enforcing grooming or appearance policies that discriminate against protective or natural hairstyles associated with race, such as his braided hairstyle and sideburns.
This policy disproportionately affected Black employees, whose hairstyles may not conform to the company’s grooming standards, the lawsuit argues. Obeng was publicly humiliated, disciplined and wrongfully terminated in retaliation for not complying, while “non-Black employees were not subjected to the same level of scrutiny or discipline,” he claims.
The lawsuit also alleges that In-N-Out Burger management treated him unfairly and harassed him based on his race, was negligent, and failed to prevent harassment, discrimination and retaliation by failing to accommodate him and refusing to review or modify its grooming and appearance policies that served to create a hostile working environment, in violation of the CROWN Act and the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.
Obeng contends that he suffered harm that included public embarrassment, emotional distress, shame, the stress of job loss tied to his racial identity, as well as financial losses, and seeks a jury trial to determine damages.
His complaint asks for at least $3.2 million in damages — $1 million in compensatory damages, $2 million for emotional distress, $200,000 for back pay or front pay, as well as legal costs and punitive damages to be proven at trial.
The lead attorney representing Obeng did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Atlanta Black Star.
A spokesperson for In-N-Out Burger said the company will not comment on ongoing litigation. In-N-Out Burger and the other defendants have 30 days, or until mid-July, to file a response to the complaint.