Miami cop sues city claiming career sabotage after refusing to change hairstyle

Weslyne Lewis Francois, a 40-year-old decorated police commander in Miami, is suing the city for $1 million. This lawsuit follows a series of allegations regarding harassment, racial discrimination, and retaliation that led to her demotion. Francois, who is a black woman and has nearly 18 years of experience on the force, claims that the harassment began shortly after her promotion to commanding officer in 2020 when Chief of Police Manuel Morales instructed her to 'tone down' her hairstyle. Francois argues that these demands were rooted in systemic discrimination against black women in leadership positions and not in the actual department standards for appearance. Her complaints are detailed in an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filing, where she emphasizes that her hairstyle met departmental policies and allowed her to effectively lead her assigned community, Coconut Grove, known for its affluent, predominantly white residents. Despite positive feedback from local organizations on her leadership, the treatment from Chief Morales deteriorated her standing within the department. Francois alleges that the comments about her hairstyle led to retaliatory actions. During her vacation, Morales allegedly assigned her an unreasonable task, which was to organize a Veterans Day honor guard at City Hall with little notice. Additional claims in her lawsuit suggest a pattern of public humiliation, unfounded rumors, and unfair evaluations, which included two performance improvement plans criticized for involving an unlicensed behavioral analyst. It is noted in the lawsuit that evaluation standards were inconsistently applied, with male colleagues not facing similar scrutiny. Throughout her ordeal, which lasted for approximately 290 days, Francois claims to have suffered treatment that no other staff members of different races or genders experienced. A spokesperson for the City of Miami has expressed the city's readiness to contest the allegations in court.