Sikh Who Kept Beard Can Sue Lexus Dealership
Sikh Who Kept Beard Can Sue Lexus Dealership
(CN) - A Lexus dealership cannot dismiss claims that adhering to its corporate parent's no-beard policy made it discriminate against a Sikh, a federal judge ruled.
As a practicing member of the Sikh faith, Gupreet Kherha has never cut his hair, attends church regularly, wears a turban, and reads from the holy book every morning. Kherha filed a discrimination charge with the U.S. Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Galaxy Inc. dba Tri-County Lexus, of Little Falls, N.J., on Nov. 3, 2008.
Kherha alleged that auto sales training company, T.K. Worldwide Inc., recruited him to work at Tri-County Lexus after undergoing a three-day, $294-per-person training session led by Full Throttle Training and its owner, Dominick Pupo, in February 2008.
At the first interview, Tri-County's general manager, Clark Nelson, had Pupo ask Kherha if he was Sikh, according to the complaint. At the end of Day 2, Nelson again had Pupo privately ask whether Kherha's beard was a religious requirement.
After Kherha explained that "the cutting of my hair, including facial hair, would violate my religious beliefs and practices as a Sikh," Pupo asked him if he would shave his beard to obtain a job with Tri-County. Kherha refused.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/07/03/59054.htm