A long legal battle with the MTA has ended favorably for Sikh and Muslim transit employees who, until now, have been denied the right to wear turbans on the job. The turban ban was implemented after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and workers who refused to remove their turbans or attach the authority’s logos were transferred to nonpublic positions. The Sikh Coalition subsequently filed a lawsuit against the MTA alleging religious discrimination, and yesterday the Justice Department announced a fat settlement in their favor.
The MTA will pay $184,500 to eight current or former employees who had been “denied religious accommodations," the Times reports. "There was a feeling in the community that Sikhs and Muslims have been collectively punished in some way for the events of 9/11," Amardeep Singh, the programs director of the Sikh Coalition, told the Times. Sikh and Muslim workers "may now wear their religious headdress freely—as they were allowed to do so before 9/11—without fear of segregation or discipline," the Coalition announced today.
Asked why Sikhs would not simply agree to wear the logo, Singh told the Wall Street Journal, "The sense was that the MTA logo was a corporate logo, and wearing it on a turban would defile it. Just the way wearing a McDonald's logo on a yarmulke would be disrespectful, or wearing a Target logo on a hijab would be disrespectful." Plaintiff Sat Hari Singh, a Sikh train operator, tells AFP, "The MTA honored me for driving my train in reverse away from the towers on 9/11 and leading passengers to safety. They called me a 'hero of 9/11.' I didn't have a corporate logo on my turban on 9/11. This policy made no sense. It was driven by fear. I'm glad it has come to an end."
