The Tennessee CROWN Act prohibits employers and schools from penalizing you for wearing braids, locs, twists, or other hairstyles and hair textures tied to your ethnic group. The law has been in effect since July 1, 2022, and is codified at T.C.A. ยง 50-1-313. It carries two narrow exceptions for public safety roles and health-related regulations, and complaints must be filed with the Tennessee Human Rights Commission within 180 days.
Hairstyles and Textures the Law Covers
The statute names three styles specifically: braids, locs, and twists. It then extends protection to any hairstyle that is part of the cultural identification of an employee’s ethnic group or that reflects a physical characteristic of that group.1UT County Technical Assistance Service. The CROWN Act That open language matters. Cornrows, bantu knots, and afros aren’t listed by name, but they fall under the same protection because they are rooted in ethnic heritage.
Hair texture itself is covered, not just how hair is styled. An employer that penalizes you for having naturally coily or tightly curled hair is targeting a physical characteristic tied to ethnicity, which is what the statute forbids. The law treats these traits as inseparable from racial and ethnic identity, not cosmetic choices you can be asked to change.
Who Has to Follow It
The CROWN Act reaches into public employment, private employment, and schools. State, county, and municipal government employers are covered. Private employers are covered too, because the law amends Title 50, which governs employment relationships generally rather than only public-sector jobs.2Tennessee General Assembly. SB0136 – 112th General Assembly
Schools are included through amendments to Title 49. Both students and school staff are protected, which means dress codes that discipline students for natural hair or protective styles violate the statute. A rule that bans “distracting” hairstyles and then gets applied selectively against students with locs or braids runs into the same problem as an outright ban.
The Safety Exceptions
The law is not absolute. Two carve-outs let an employer restrict a hairstyle without violating the statute:1UT County Technical Assistance Service. The CROWN Act
- Public safety employees can be restricted if a hairstyle would prevent them from performing the essential functions of the job.
- Any employer can enforce a policy they must adopt to comply with federal or state health or safety laws, rules, or regulations.
These exist for concrete reasons. A firefighter whose hairstyle prevents a proper respirator seal, or a food processing worker subject to federal hygiene rules, can be required to modify their hair for the job. The operative word is “essential.” An employer invoking safety has to show a real connection between the hairstyle and a genuine job-performance or safety issue. Vague appeals to “professionalism” or customer preference do not qualify.
What a Violation Looks Like
A written grooming policy that bans ethnically associated hairstyles is the clearest violation, but conduct counts too. A supervisor who never puts anything in writing but consistently passes over employees with locs for promotions is engaging in the kind of discrimination the law targets. Prohibited actions include refusing to hire, disciplining, denying a promotion, or terminating someone because of a protected hairstyle or natural hair texture.
If you think you’ve been affected, start documenting. Save the policy or dress code, note the dates of any comments or discipline, keep emails, and write down names of witnesses. The strength of a complaint usually comes down to what you can show, not what you remember.
Filing a Complaint
Complaints go to the Tennessee Human Rights Commission, and the deadline is 180 days from the discriminatory act. If the discrimination is ongoing rather than a single event, the 180-day clock runs from the most recent incident. Missing the deadline can bar the claim entirely.3Tennessee Secretary of State. Rules of the Tennessee Human Rights Commission Chapter 1500-01 – Rules for Acting Upon Complaints of Discrimination
After you file, the commission reviews the complaint for jurisdiction. If it’s accepted, the employer is notified and an investigation begins. The commission gathers documents, interviews witnesses, and examines workplace policies. Remedies for a successful claim can include changes to the employer’s policies and compensation for the employee.
The commission has a worksharing agreement with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A charge that also implicates federal anti-discrimination law gets dual-filed, meaning the EEOC receives a copy while the state agency typically keeps the case for processing.4U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) and Dual Filing You don’t have to file in two places to preserve both avenues.
Federal Protection Beyond the State Law
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 gives you a second route. The EEOC interprets Title VII as prohibiting employers from firing or penalizing workers based on natural hair texture, which the agency treats as an immutable characteristic of race. The EEOC has stated that an employer cannot ask an employee to change their natural hair texture any more than it could ask them to change their skin color.5U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. American Screening to Pay $50,000 to Settle EEOC Race Discrimination Lawsuit
In a 2024 enforcement action, the EEOC required a company to adopt policies explicitly prohibiting discrimination against employees who display their natural hair texture or wear protective styles, and called professionalism standards rooted in racial prejudice unlawful.5U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. American Screening to Pay $50,000 to Settle EEOC Race Discrimination Lawsuit A standalone federal CROWN Act has been introduced in Congress but has not become law, so for now Tennessee workers rely on the state statute together with Title VII. Documentation and filing within the 180-day window remain the two things most likely to decide a claim.