Religious head gear OK'd in NYC deal
Source: Agencies |
June 1, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
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NEW York City's transit system has agreed to allow Sikh and Muslim employees to wear religious head coverings in public, such as while operating buses and subways, as part of a legal settlement filed on Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court.
The settlement brings an end to a policy enforced by the New York City Transit Authority after the 2001 terror attacks.
Transit Authority employees will no longer be forced to choose between branding their religious head coverings with the logo for the Metropolitan Transit Authority or working in jobs out of public view.
Bus drivers, train operators, conductors and station agents will now be allowed to wear their heads carves and turbans, provided they're in the same blue color as their transit uniforms.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by the US Justice Department in 2004 against the Transit Authority. The lawsuit said the policy, which had been on the books for years but was not actively enforced until 2002, was being used to target Sikh and Muslim workers.
The workers were being disciplined when they refused to append a transit-system logo to their turbans or scarves and were forced to work less-desirable jobs out of passengers' view, the lawsuit said.
Transit Authority officials said the 2002 crackdown was part of an "across-the-board, neutral enforcement" of its uniform policy. But several Sikh and Muslim employees who joined the suit said the policy was designed to appease anti-Muslim sentiment following the September 11 attacks.
"We're glad that this sad chapter in our city's reaction to 9/11 has come to an end," said Amardeep Singh, program director of the Sikh Coalition.
The Transit Authority agreed to pay settlements totaling at least US$184,500 to eight Sikh and Muslim employees who filed claims, documents show.
The settlement brings an end to a policy enforced by the New York City Transit Authority after the 2001 terror attacks.
Transit Authority employees will no longer be forced to choose between branding their religious head coverings with the logo for the Metropolitan Transit Authority or working in jobs out of public view.
Bus drivers, train operators, conductors and station agents will now be allowed to wear their heads carves and turbans, provided they're in the same blue color as their transit uniforms.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by the US Justice Department in 2004 against the Transit Authority. The lawsuit said the policy, which had been on the books for years but was not actively enforced until 2002, was being used to target Sikh and Muslim workers.
The workers were being disciplined when they refused to append a transit-system logo to their turbans or scarves and were forced to work less-desirable jobs out of passengers' view, the lawsuit said.
Transit Authority officials said the 2002 crackdown was part of an "across-the-board, neutral enforcement" of its uniform policy. But several Sikh and Muslim employees who joined the suit said the policy was designed to appease anti-Muslim sentiment following the September 11 attacks.
"We're glad that this sad chapter in our city's reaction to 9/11 has come to an end," said Amardeep Singh, program director of the Sikh Coalition.
The Transit Authority agreed to pay settlements totaling at least US$184,500 to eight Sikh and Muslim employees who filed claims, documents show.
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