Black Miami Police Officer Sues City For $1 Million, Claims Discrimination And Demotion Over Refusal To ‘Tone Down’ Her Hairstyle

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An NAACP flyer campaigning for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 1922, but was filibustered to defeat in the Senate. Dyer, the NAACP, and freedom fighters around the country, like Flossie Baily, struggled for years to get the Dyer and other anti-lynching bills passed, to no avail. Today there is still no U.S. law specifically against lynching. In 2005, eighty of the 100 U.S. Senators voted for a resolution to apologize to victims' families and the country for their failure to outlaw lynching. Courtesy of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

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Claude, age 23, just months before his 1930 murder. Courtesy of Faith Deeter.

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Souvenir Portrait of the Lynching of Abram Smith and Thomas Shipp, August 7, 1930, by studio photographer Lawrence Beitler. Courtesy of the Indiana Hisorical Society.

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December 5, 2024

Melissa Noel, Essence

A Black 18 year Miami Police police veteran is speaking out and suing the city, alleging her boss made racist comments and demoted her after she raised concerns.

“I’m just fighting to protect the rights of equality in the workplace, and these rights are sacred and non-negotiable,” said Lieutenant Weslyne Lewis Francois in a prepared statement during a press event on Monday, CBS Miami reports.

Lewis Francois, who remains on the force, is suing for discrimination and retaliation, seeking at least $1 million in damages and a jury trial. Her lawsuit alleges retaliation and discrimination based on her race, ethnicity, and gender. She has also filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to The Miami Herald.

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