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Sikh American Sues IRS over Ban on Kirpan
Tagore lost her job as she refused to remove her kirpan, now Sikh Coalition fights for her
WSN Network

HOUSTON: Kawaljeet Tagore, a Sikh American, sued the Internal Revenue Service  (IRS) in Houston federal court on Jan. 6 claiming the IRS discriminated against her by prohibiting her from wearing a kirpan, a mandatory article of faith, on her job as a  revenue agent at the Mickey Leland Federal Building in downtown Houston. The lawsuit was filed in Houston federal district court by the Sikh Coalition, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty of Washington, DC and Houston civil rights attorney Scott Newar. Tagore was fired in July 2006 because she refused to remove her kirpan, a religious item  that initiated Sikhs are required to wear at all times.

The kirpan commonly resembles a  sword, and is intended as a constant reminder to its bearer of a Sikh’s solemn duty to protect the weak and promote justice for all. “Sikhs around the world wear their kirpans while serving as government officials. Bureaucratic short-sightedness and ignorance of the Sikh religion are no reason to put a unique ban on kirpans in Houston,” said Eric  Rassbach, national litigation director at The Becket Fund. The lawsuit claims that the IRS’s termination of Tagore violates both the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) and Title VII religious employment discrimination rules. It alleges that the IRS banned the kirpan as a so-called “dangerous weapon,” even though the government allows hundreds of sharp knives and box cutters in the Leland Building.

The edge of Tagore’s kirpan is three inches long and is not sharp. Government officials banned Tagore’s kirpan sight unseen, failing to conduct any examination whatsoever of the kirpan before banning it outright. The Sikh Coalition is a national civil rights  organization that works to ensure that Sikhs may freely practice their faith. The Washington-based Becket Fund is a nonpartisan, interfaith, civil rights law firm  dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions. Scott Newar is a civil rights lawyer in Houston. “Sikhs should be entitled to work for their government, just like any other American. Historically, attempts to ban wearing the kirpan have been resisted by Sikhs, just as Christians would likely resist a ban on wearing crosses,” said Harsimran Kaur, legal director at the Sikh Coalition. “Kawaljeet Tagore’s kirpan is not a danger to anyone. She was forced to choose between her religion or her job. That is unacceptable,” she added.

7 January 2009
 

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