WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department sued a New Jersey county Monday, alleging it refused to accommodate a Muslim employee's religious head covering.
The lawsuit said the denial by Essex County to permit Yvette Beshier to wear a religiously mandated headscarf while working as a corrections officer violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Justice Department said in a news release.
The complaint alleged the Essex County Department of Corrections suspended and later fired Beshier because her wearing of a head scarf, called a khimar, violated its uniform policy for corrections officers. The complaint said Beshier requested a religious accommodation so she could wear a khimar but the department denied her request.
Title VII bars employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin and religion. Its religious discrimination provisions require employers to make a reasonable accommodation of employees' religious observances and practices, the department said.
"Employees should not have to choose between their religious beliefs and their economic livelihood," said Loretta King, acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. "Federal law requires all employers, even those having policies regarding the wearing of uniforms, to reasonably accommodate the religious observances and practices of their employees."
