Religious bias: Firm to pay $50,000 to Sikh job seeker in US
Thursday, 21/11/2013
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131121/punjab.htm#17
New Jersey : A New Jersey car dealership will pay monetary compensation to a Sikh man to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by him, which alleged that he was not hired by the dealership because he maintains a beard.
Gurpreet Kherha had filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and a lawsuit in 2009 against Tri-County Lexus, where he had applied for a position as a sales associate and was qualified for the job.
EEOC said after the car dealership requested Kherha to shave his beard, he refused to comply due to his religious beliefs. The dealership denied him the job, the agency charged. According to the lawsuit, Tri-County Lexus had a ”no-beard” policy for sales and administrative personnel and it strictly enforced its dress code policy without granting reasonable religious accommodations.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Kherha by rights group Sikh Coalition and the EEOC. Under the settlement reached in the case, the car dealership would pay USD 50,000 to Kherha and has been urged to not discriminate on the basis of religion in future.
Tri-County has also entered into a two-year consent decree with the federal government under which it is required to undertake a series of “remedial” measures, including revising its written policies prohibiting employment discrimination.
