Black Inspector Cut Nine Inches From His Locs Only To Lose His Job After Hair Was Deemed 'Not Presentable'

Black livestock inspector Christian Patrick says he cut about nine inches from his locs to comply with grooming rules for his 'dream job' in New Mexico, only to be told within days that his hair was 'not presentable' and lose the role.

Patrick is now suing the New Mexico Livestock Board and its chief law enforcement officer under the state's Human Rights Act. His lawyers at the ACLU of New Mexico argue the board violated state protections for hair length and protective hairstyles such as locs.

The board maintains that Patrick resigned.

A Dream Job Mixing Cattle and Law Enforcement

Patrick grew up in Denton, Texas, the son of a police officer, and moved to New Mexico to attend Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari on a rodeo scholarship, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported in April, when he was 19.

Brand inspection seemed the perfect way to combine ranch work with policing. 'It seemed like a dream job to mix cattle and law enforcement,' he told the paper.

He interviewed for a livestock inspector post in Carlsbad on 5 February 2026 and accepted the board's offer ten days later, according to the complaint filed on 28 October in the Second Judicial District Court in Bernalillo County.

He held a high school diploma and more than two years of livestock and agricultural experience, passed a background check and drug test, and agreed to earn his law enforcement certification within a year.

In March, he moved from Clayton to Carlsbad and signed a lease on a home there, the complaint states.

Nine Inches Cut To Follow the Rules

Before his first day, Patrick checked the rules. On 13 March, the board's human resources manager, Stephanie Lujan, confirmed that a bun which did not touch or extend past his collar would comply with policy, according to the complaint.

His hairdresser then cut about nine inches from his locs and sewed them into a bun. He reported for his first day of work on 14 March, and the complaint says his hair stayed within the collar line for his entire time on the job.

Two days later, his direct supervisor, Daniel Dictson, told him he had no problem with the hair but did not make the final decisions, the complaint states.

Hair Deemed 'Not Presentable'

On 17 March, chief law enforcement officer Barry Allen told Patrick his hair was too long and that he would have to cut it to keep his job, according to the lawsuit. Allen allegedly said he 'was not a fan' of the hair, that it did not look 'presentable,' and that the board did not want Patrick dealing with producers until he cut it.

When Patrick raised New Mexico's CROWN Act, Allen allegedly replied that the hair 'had nothing to do with his religion or anything else.' New Mexico's CROWN Act, signed in 2021, amended the Human Rights Act so that race includes traits historically associated with it, among them hair texture, hair length and protective hairstyles such as locs.

Patrick alleges the board's treatment of his hair breached those protections. The complaint says Allen gave no reason other than his hairstyle for finding Patrick unqualified.

Dictson told Patrick that several men in offices across the state wore long braids, but that he had to decide that day, the complaint states. Patrick decided not to cut his hair again and, according to the complaint, was fired that day. Dictson collected the keys to his work truck and drove him to Roswell, where another inspector drove him home to Carlsbad.

The complaint includes a photograph, published by the Santa Fe New Mexican, of a board inspector with a long braid reaching well below the shoulders.

'If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything,' Patrick told the paper.

Board Says He Resigned, Not Fired

Patrick emailed executive director Belinda Garland, Allen and Lujan the next day to ask them to reconsider. Garland replied on 24 March. 'To be clear you were never terminated,' she wrote, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Garland said the law enforcement academy had 'different grooming requirements' and that 'The New Mexico Livestock Board does not control the grooming standards for Law Enforcement Academies.'

She wrote that Patrick 'resigned and left without notifying upper management,' the complaint states. She added that 'no one at the NMLB stated that your employment was contingent on you cutting your hair based upon NMLB grooming standards,' according to Courthouse News.

Allen had said Garland told him Patrick's hair would breach the grooming standards of the Southern New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy, which he would have had to attend, Courthouse News reported.

The academy requires hair to be 'conservatively short,' while the board's 2024 employee handbook says only that hair must be clean and neatly trimmed. The lawsuit notes that Patrick had not yet begun academy training when he lost the job. He asked again for reconsideration the same day and heard nothing more, it says.

He filed a discrimination charge with the state Human Rights Bureau in July and received an order of non-determination in August, which allowed him to take his claim to court. It is not a finding on whether discrimination occurred.

The suit, brought by ACLU of New Mexico lawyers Jazmyn Taitingfong, Kristin Greer Love and Maria Martinez Sanchez, alleges race discrimination. It cites provisions of the Human Rights Act that define race to include hair length and protective hairstyles, and name locs as one. Patrick is seeking back pay, front pay, damages, legal fees and a jury trial.