<\/p>\n
Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales attends a funeral service for a Miami Beach sergeant on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. <\/p>\n
Alie Skowronski<\/p>\n
askowronski@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
The city of Miami has agreed to pay out $400,000 to settle a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a former Miami Police Department commander who accused the police chief of critiquing her hairstyle and telling her she needed to \u201ctone\u201d down her look, and then retaliating against her when she refused to conform.<\/p>\n
In a 4-1 vote, the Miami City Commission on Thursday approved the settlement in the case brought by Weslyne Lewis Francois, an 18-year veteran of the Miami Police Department who sued the city in October 2024. Lewis Francois, who is Black and of Haitian-Bahamian descent, alleged that starting in 2020, Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales, then the interim chief, made comments about her appearance and told her to change her hairstyle, then \u201ctargeted\u201d her with \u201cnegative evaluations, unwarranted disciplinary actions, and had her placed on a 90-day performance improvement plan aimed at setting her up for failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a deposition, Lewis Francois said Morales would make comments that began with, \u201c\u2018Oh, hair\u2019s nice, but,\u2019 and then it progressed to where, at this point, is where the racist tone comes into it.\u201d Her attorney previously told the Miami Herald that Morales \u201cwanted her hair to look more European.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawsuit alleged that Morales\u2019 \u201cactions were aimed at undermining the identities of Black women, reinforcing a narrative of superiority that positioned them as lesser individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales in a deposition acknowledged having told Lewis Francois in a phone call that \u201cI need you to tone down the hair.\u201d Morales said he made those comments \u201cin an off-duty capacity\u201d and that he did so because her hair \u201cwas not within the guidelines of the Miami Police Department,\u201d according to the deposition. He described Lewis Francois as a \u201ctoxic individual that absolutely spoiled the chemistry\u201d among staff, saying her job performance is why she was later demoted to lieutenant in late 2022.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Miami Police Chief harassed veteran Black officer after making racist remark: lawsuit<\/a><\/p>\n Thursday\u2019s vote to settle the case marks an about-face from a previous commission meeting earlier in the month. At that meeting, the City Commission voted down the settlement agreement after Morales told commissioners that he \u201cwould love to see this go to trial.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor those 32 years that I\u2019ve been here, I\u2019ve always guided myself by the principles that rules matter, that behavior matters, that professional decorum matters,\u201d Morales said at the Feb. 12 meeting. \u201cAnd to have something like this pass and move on and make a settlement sends the entire Miami Police Department a message that those things do not matter, as long as you\u2019re willing to get an attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n But on Thursday, two weeks later, Morales had a change of heart. He no longer expressed opposition to settling the case but did ask for an investigation to be conducted by the city\u2019s Equal Opportunity Diversity Programs office, which \u201cinvestigates internal complaints involving employment discrimination and handles charges of discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Florida Commission on Human Relations, and Miami-Dade County Commission on Human Rights.\u201d<\/p>\n Morales said such an investigation increases transparency, limits liability and \u201cputs the best interest of the city of Miami in the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear why Morales\u2019 position changed over the course of the last two weeks. He declined further comment Thursday.<\/p>\n Lewis Francois\u2019 attorney, Michael Pizzi, after Thursday\u2019s vote said they were pleased with the outcome.<\/p>\n \u201cFor over 20 years Ms. Lewis Francois has dedicated her life to serving and protecting the families and businesses of the City of Miami,\u201d Pizzi said. \u201cWe are happy to resolve this case and she looks forward to continuing her life\u2019s work of serving the public with honor and integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n