[ga] Employer Called My Natural Hair “unprofessional” And A “big Ball,” Discussed Firing Me After I Raised Discrimination Concerns, Then Changed Pto Rules — Do I Potentially Have A Case?

I am a 23-year-old Black woman working as a medical assistant at a small private medical practice in Snellville, Georgia. The practice appears to have approximately 10–12 employees, although I don’t know the employer’s official employee count. There is no HR department. The office manager is also a Black/African woman.

LOCATION: Snellville, Gwinnett County, GA

I’m trying to determine whether what happened this week could potentially constitute race/hair discrimination, retaliation, or another employment-law issue, and whether it would be worth consulting an employment attorney.

MONDAY — COMMENTS ABOUT MY NATURAL HAIR
I came to work wearing my natural curly/coily hair out. My hair was intentionally styled, moisturized with product, and pinned back with bobby pins so that it was away from my face.

The office manager approached me and told me that I needed to “pack” my hair better. Later that afternoon, she approached me again in a harsher tone and repeated that I needed to “pack” my hair.
She then brought me into an office with the physician/owner and said my hair was “unkempt” and “unprofessional” and that I could not work at the front desk with my hair looking that way.

What especially bothered me was that she pulled up an older photograph of me in which my hair was straightened and used that as an example of when my hair looked “better.” I explained that I did not understand what was wrong with my current hairstyle. I had worn my natural hair at this workplace previously, including around both of these individuals, without it being treated as a problem.

The physician said that I could comb/style it differently to make it look more professional.
I happened to take a photograph of myself less than approximately two minutes after the office manager’s initial comment, before changing or restyling my hair. I still have the original photograph. My curls are defined, my hair is pinned away from my face, and there are no visible wet areas on my scrub top.

TUESDAY — FOLLOW-UP CONVERSATION

The next day, the office manager called me into her office to discuss why I had said that I felt the situation was personal/discriminatory.
I recorded this conversation and still have the original recording.

She repeatedly told me that she could not understand how I could believe she discriminated against me because she is also Black/African, has Afro-textured hair herself, and has daughters and family members who wear Afros.

She then described my hair from Monday as “untidy,” “unpacked,” “dripping,” and a “big ball.”
I specifically dispute the claim that my hair was dripping. My hair was moisturized with styling products but was not wet or dripping. The photograph was taken less than two minutes after her first comment. If my hair was truly dripping wet, you would be able to see wet marks on my blue scrubs.

She discussed how Afro hair needs to be “packed,” including using bands/ponytails and keeping it away from the face. My hair had already been secured away from my face with bobby pins.

Throughout the conversation, I repeatedly tried to make clear that I was not saying management has no right to enforce professional appearance standards. I was asking what specifically was supposedly unprofessional about my natural hairstyle.

The conversation then became concerning to me for another reason.She repeatedly talked about employees potentially using “the law” against her.
She gave me a hypothetical in which, instead of telling me that she disliked my hair, she could simply decide to fire me, not tell me the real reason, and find another reason to terminate me so that I couldn’t “put [her] in trouble” or “take [her] to the law.”

At another point, she told me, in substance, that I could successfully “put [her] in trouble,” but that I “would not have peace with it.”
I have the recording, so the exact wording can be verified.

She also brought up a previous disagreement involving my training and questioned whether I take accountability when I am wrong, even though the meeting was originally about my hair/discrimination concern.

STAFF MEETING

At approximately 10:30 AM that same day right after my meeting with her, the office manager called the clinic medical assistants, research staff, and PA together.

She announced to the group that she was not discriminating against anyone’s hair and said, in substance, that if someone’s hair is “unkempt” or “a big ball,” she has to address it because employees represent the practice.

“Big ball” was the same phrase she had just used when specifically discussing my natural hair privately.

PTO ISSUE IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARD

Following these events, management also began communicating/enforcing what I was verbally told is a limit of six paid days off.

This concerns me because the written PTO policy I was given when I started employment specifically says:
• Employees are eligible for 10 days of PTO per year after 90 days of continuous employment.

• Employees receive one day of PTO each month after the initial 90-day period.

I still have the original written policy.

The following morning, management sent the entire staff an email titled “Annual Leave and Days Off.” It says employees must track their annual-leave entitlement and that time beyond their available entitlement will be unpaid.

Interestingly, the email does not actually state that the entitlement is six days, does not state that the existing 10-day PTO policy has been replaced, and does not provide an effective date for a new PTO policy.

I intend to ask management in writing to clarify the current PTO entitlement and provide the updated written policy and effective date if it has changed.

OTHER CONTEXT

This isn’t my first issue with this manager.

Previously, while we were short-staffed and I was trying to room patients, she interrupted me to discuss/quiz me about billing training. After allowing the conversation to continue for around 10 minutes, I politely asked whether I could first take the patient who was waiting in the lobby. She yelled at me in front of the office and said that if I already knew everything, I shouldn’t tell her husband/the physician that she hadn’t tried to train me.
I have been documenting the current events contemporaneously. I have the photograph of my hair taken almost immediately after the first comment, the recording of Tuesday’s conversation, the written PTO policy I received when hired, and the subsequent staff email about annual leave. There were also witnesses to several of these events.

My questions are:

Does the treatment of my natural hair potentially rise to race/hair discrimination under any law applicable to a small private employer in Georgia?

How significant is the fact that straightened hair was shown to me as an example of my hair looking “better,” while my natural hair was called “unprofessional,” “unkempt,” and a “big ball”?

Are the statements about firing me/finding another reason, “the law,” and me not having “peace” if I got her in trouble legally significant?

Could changing or reducing a PTO benefit immediately after I raised a discrimination concern potentially constitute retaliation, particularly if the written policy still provides 10 days?

Does the practice having only approximately 10–12 employees prevent federal discrimination/retaliation claims, and are there Georgia, Gwinnett County, Snellville, contractual, or other protections that could still apply?

Is this enough that I should speak with a Georgia employment attorney now, even though I have not been fired or formally disciplined?

Is there anything else I should be documenting or avoiding doing while I’m still employed?

I’m not asking anyone to determine conclusively that discrimination or retaliation occurred. I’m mainly trying to understand whether these facts are legally concerning enough to warrant a consultation and what I should do to protect myself while I am still working there.