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US govt reverses ban on Sikhs as
Federal Security Officers
WSN Network
Fresno, CA: The
US federal government has issued a policy allowing all Sikhs to
serve as federal security officers while maintaining their turbans
and beards. The decision was the result of a discrimination case
filed by a Sikh security officer who was told that he could not
maintain his turban and beard on the job.
The lawsuit
settlement and change in policy are a major civil rights victory for
the Sikh community. It marks the first time that a federal law
enforcement agency has changed policy to accommodate the Sikh
articles of faith.
The lawsuit that
led to the settlement was brought jointly by the Sikh Coalition,
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area,
and the law firm of Keker & Van Nest LLP.
Raghbir Singh,
known among friends as Major Gill, wears a turban and keeps an
unshorn beard, which are requirements of the Sikh faith. He comes
from a family of freedom fighters who fought and were jailed during
India's struggle for independence. Major Gill served in the Indian
Army for almost 34 years, retired with the rank of "major", and
subsequently immigrated with his family to the U.S. in 2004. Soon
after, he began working as a security officer in
Fresno,
CA.
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It
marks the first time that a federal law enforcement agency has
changed policy to accommodate the Sikh articles of faith.
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In 2005, Major
Gill obtained a position with a company called NCLN20. The company
held a contract with the Federal Protective Service (FPS) - a
division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) - to
provide security guard services for federal facilities. Contract
security officer positions are desirable because they often pay more
than regular guard positions. Major Gill began serving on NCLN20's
government contract guarding a federal building in Fresno.
However, FPS's
uniform and grooming policies prohibited Major Gill from wearing a
turban or keeping a beard on the job. Under these policies,
contract security officers had to wear a uniform hat and be
clean-shaven. Major Gill requested that the government accommodate
his Sikh articles of faith. However, FPS refused - and forced him
off of the contract. Because NCLN20 had no other security officer
positions, the company fired him. Major Gill lost his job only
because he is a Sikh.
He reached out
to the Sikh Coalition for help in November 2005 and the Coalition
engaged the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR) and the law
firm of Keker & Van Nest LLP (KVN), both based in
San Francisco,
CA.
The joint legal team filed internal complaints with DHS, and
ultimately a lawsuit in a
San Francisco
federal court in 2007.
Through the
case, the Coalition was able to push FPS to change its uniform and
grooming policies to accommodate Sikh articles of faith. As a
result, Sikhs can now serve as contract security guards with the
federal government with unshorn hair, beards, turbans, and kirpans
intact.
"Holding the
federal government accountable for discriminating against Sikhs
sends a strong message to private employers. If the government
includes Sikh Americans in its workforce, then other employers are
encouraged to do the same," said Harsimran Kaur, Legal Director at
the Sikh Coalition.
Notably, Major
Gill's case not only pushed the government to change its
discriminatory policy, but he obtained money damages as part of its
resolution. Major Gill settled his lawsuit against NCLN20 in
January of 2008, and against the federal government in June of
2009. He received money damages from NCLN20 in 2008, and from the
federal government just this month. "Both the policy change and the
money damages will ensure that other employers think twice about the
price of discriminating against Sikhs," added Ms. Kaur.
21
October 2009
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