SOUTH FULTON, Ga.—Today, Awa Diagne filed a lawsuit against the City of South Fulton challenging their denial of a permit to open her hair braiding shop. South Fulton claimed it would provide too much competition and potentially hurt another salon. That is blatantly unconstitutional. Taken literally, the South Fulton City Council is punishing Awa because she might be too good at her business. The Georgia Constitution protects people’s right to practice a lawful occupation, and South Fulton has violated that right. That is why Awa and the Institute for Justice (IJ) have teamed up to fight for the rights of all potential business owners in Georgia.

“Government shouldn’t be able to stop legitimate businesses from opening simply because they might compete with existing ones.” said IJ Attorney Will Aronin. “This is America, where the government doesn’t get to decide who is and who isn’t able to compete in an industry. Awa has every right to open her business.”

Awa is the American dream. She immigrated from Senegal over 30 years ago in search for a better life. Since then, she has married, raised six children, and supported her family by braiding hair.

In 2021, Awa moved to South Fulton with her family but intended to continue running her shop in downtown Atlanta. But then tragedy struck. The day after she moved into her house, her husband was admitted to the hospital after being diagnosed with COVID-19. He never came home.

Without her husband, Awa could no longer operate her business in downtown Atlanta. But as the now sole provider for her family, she needed to work so quitting wasn’t an option. Awa decided to open a new hair braiding business in South Fulton right by her home and her daughters’ school.

Awa went to work, finding a storefront to lease and checking every box along the way. The last hurdle was getting approval from the South Fulton City Council. It should have been easy. After all, the planning and zoning commissions had already recommended that Awa be approved.  

But then, the Council voted against her saying that she would provide too much competition to another salon. At one point, a councilwoman said that it was “not fair” that the local salon should “have to compete” and that the council should deny Awa because “we don’t want any business to suffer any losses due to an over saturation.”

This blatant favoritism strikes at the heart of the American dream that motivated Awa to immigrate here and pursue. But Awa is determined to fight against this injustice, even at great personal expense as she continues to pay for her space despite not being able to run her business.

“Never did I think, here in America of all places, that I would get denied a business permit because I might be too successful,” said Awa. “I’ve been braiding hair my entire life. This is a business I know, a community I love. For the Council to deny me when I’ve done nothing wrong just isn’t right.”

“The Georgia Constitution protects everyone’s right to earn a living,” said IJ Senior Attorney Renée Flaherty. “This is an affront to everyone who has ever dreamed of opening their own business.” 

Founded in 1991, the Institute for Justice litigates nationwide to defend property rights, economic liberty, educational choice, and free speech. This is not the first time IJ has had to litigate in Georgia, having previously won a case overturning egregious licensing laws that severely prohibited qualified workers from working as lactation consultants. IJ has successfully protected against arduous zoning rules and promoted economic liberty in cases such as a North Carolina animal sanctuary’s right to operate in the face of arbitrary county regulations. In Fort Piece, Florida, IJ helped defeat a zoning law that banned food trucks within 500 feet of an established restaurant.

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To arrange interviews on this subject, journalists may contact Phillip Suderman, IJ’s Communications Project Manager, at [email protected] or (850) 376-4110. More information about the case is available at: https://ij.org/case/south-fulton-protectionist-zoning/