Justice Sues MTA Over Turban Ban
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The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit yesterday charging New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the nation’s largest transit agency, with discriminating against employees who wear religious head coverings.
The complaint alleges an unfair pattern or practice by selectively enforcing a ban on such head coverings as turbans while allowing baseball caps. It says the MTA failed or refused to reasonably accommodate employees’ religious practices and beliefs.
Civil Rights Division lawyers in Washington announced the filing, charging the MTA and its New York City Transit subway division discriminated against Muslim, Sikh, and other employees.
The MTA and NYC Transit in 2002 began enforcing uniform policies against turbans or headscarves worn by Muslim and Sikh workers, in some cases transferring such workers to yards or depots where they would not be seen by commuters, the complaint said. Those jobs offered fewer benefits and less overtime, it said.
“Public employees should not have to sacrifice their religious beliefs to enjoy the same benefits of employment as their co-workers,” Assistant Attorney General Alexander Acosta said.