Source: The Buffalo News
On January 17, 2002, The Buffalo News reported that "a man who claimed he was denied a bus driver's job because of his long dreadlocks has won a $33,500 settlement from Greyhound Lines... The company agreed to pay Kevan Sheppard of Rochester [NY] in order to end an employment discrimination lawsuit filed on his behalf in 2000 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Buffalo... Sheppard, who practices the Rastafarian religion, claimed Greyhound's Buffalo management turned him down for the bus driver's job because his hair hung halfway down his back in the braided style known as dreadlocks... A supervisor asked Sheppard if cutting his hair would pose a problem. Sheppard answered that it would because the locks are in keeping with his religion... He said he was told in February 1999 that his long hair 'might be a problem and he should probably cut it if he wanted a job. He refused... Rachael L. Adams, an EEOC lawyer, said the agency's investigation showed other applicants with less experience and lesser credentials were hired ahead of Sheppard, and concluded he was rejected because of his religion - a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act... As part of the settlement, Greyhound will be required to train its hiring officials about laws prohibiting employment discrimination and distribute anti-discriminiation policies and and complaint procedures to all employees."