Committee advances Crown Act ordinance to ban hair‑texture discrimination; legal scope and enforcement debated

Cuyahoga County’s Human Resource Appointments and Equity Committee approved an amended ordinance, commonly called the Crown Act, to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of hair texture or hairstyles commonly associated with a particular race or national origin. The ordinance amends sections 15.01 and 15.02 of the Cuyahoga County Code and adds similar language to section 3.02 of the county employee handbook; the committee voted to advance the measure and incorporate a technical substitute for consistency with recently adopted language.

Trevor Maclure, County Council staff, presented the substitute and described it as technical: "The substitute is technical in nature. What it does is incorporates the language from the conversion therapy ban that council recently approved," he said, and asked the committee to approve the updated legislation so "that's the most up to date legislation in front of you."

The proposed ordinance amends the county code's definition of race to include language covering "hair texture or…