ADVERTISEMENT Publix, EEOC Agree To End Bias Suit Over Dreadlocks Law360 (May 27, 2021, 8:30 PM EDT) -- Publix and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission staved off a trial slated for June with a deal to resolve the agency's suit claiming the grocery chain told a Rastafarian applicant he'd have to chop his dreadlocks to work at a Nashville store. U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson canceled the trial in a Thursday order, citing the parties' joint announcement Wednesday that they had reached an agreement but were still hammering out the details of a proposed consent decree. The trial was set to begin June 22, according to Judge Richardson's order.