Last October I reported here on how the Justice Department laid the smack down on the New York Metropolitan Transport Authority for attempting to require Sikhs and other religious minorities to discard any head coverings while on the job. Well it seems as though the MTA is trying to be “cute” in how it complies with the Justice Department’s wrath. From Reuters:
A Sikh subway driver is being forced to wear a badge on his turban or face being demoted and sent to the stock yards, his lawyer said on Thursday.
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (news - web sites), which operates the subways, told motorman Kevin Harrington to wear the MTA badge or he cannot not work with customers.
“If he wears it, he can operate in customer service areas, if not then he’s relegated to yard duty,” said Charles Seaton, spokesman for the MTA’s Transit Authority.
“I feel wearing the patch violates my religious freedom,” Harrington, 53, told The New York Daily News. “The turban is a sacred space, so it’s like asking a priest to wear a logo on his vestments.”
Harrington’s lawyer, Amardeep Singh, said his client had always worn the turban in his 25 years on the job, but it was only after “9/11 that the agency tried to get its Sikh and Muslim employees to stop wearing their turbans and hijabs.”
Newsday.com adds their two cents:
It didn’t take NYC Transit long last summer to realize it had trampled on a Sikh subway motorman’s religious freedom when the agency reassigned him for refusing to remove his turban. His subsequent reinstatement is followed now by a new policy that allows the turban if it’s adorned with an MTA logo. That’s a reasonable compromise, as long as the standard applies to all uniformed workers.
The headdress patch strikes us as unnecessary for employees in uniform, but perhaps it will ward off any biased fears that outsiders have commandeered the system. New head scarves for female Muslim bus drivers are also marked MTA.
The point of allowing the turbans and scarves is that they pose no public safety risks that would override the wearers’ constitutional right to religious expression. Transit officials have raised eyebrows with the logo requirement, which reportedly prompted an altercation Thursday between the Sikh motorman and a supervisor. But the requirement is akin to the New York Police Department requiring its Sikh traffic agents to affix badges to their turbans. And just as all traffic agents must display the badge on their headgear, NYC Transit ought to apply the same consistency.
Are you F*ing kidding me? “…ward off any biased fears that outsiders have commandeered the system. Like REAL terrorists are going to draw attention to themselves by wearing turbans before hijacking a train! Ignorance! I remember hearing a story that said U.S. intelligence once found a terrorist handbook that advised operatives to even wear undershirts like American men do. I had no idea that NYC traffic cops had to wear badges on their headgear but I don’t think duplicating a wrong in the name of consistency is a good thing. Besides, cops need prominent identifying markers because they carry visible weapons. Train operators don’t.
Now what about the altercation that Newsday refers to? From NY Newsday:
The latest twist occurred at 7 a.m., when Harrington reported to work without wearing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority patch over his turban, as his bosses have required under threat of demotion. He said he was preparing to wear it once he boarded his train.
When a supervisor saw him without the patch, the two got into an argument, Harrington said. During the altercation, Harrington attempted to tie the patch over his turban. In the process, he accidentally dropped a pair of sound protectors he uses while working.
The supervisor said that a piece of the ear plugs hit him and directed Harrington to report to NYC Transit headquarters in downtown Brooklyn, where the train operator would be required to take a Breathalyzer test. As Harrington angrily made his way to a train heading to Brooklyn, he said he lost his balance on icy steps and fell.
Harrington was taken by ambulance to Montefiore Medical Center. After he was discharged, NYC Transit representatives still took him to take a Breathalyzer test.
A strict adherent of Sikhism, Harrington said he hasn’t had alcohol in 25 years.
