Employment Discrimination: The Fashion Police
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit: Webb v. City of Philadelphia
How would you feel about getting pulled over by a cop wearing a hijaab—the traditional headcovering worn by Muslim women? That’s the question presented by Officer Kimberlie Webb of the Philly PD. A cop since 1995 and a practicing Muslim, she decided she wanted to wear such a headscarf “while in uniform and on duty.”
The Philly PD said “no” based on Department Directive 78 which severely restricts permissible police attire. For the police brass, a hijaab would be an unacceptable official wardrobe malfunction.
Undaunted, Webb filed a Civil Rights complaint with the EEOC and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. Six months later, while that matter was still pending, she made a fashion protest and wore her hijaab to work. She was ordered to remove it, refused, and was sent home. The same thing happened the next day, and the day after. Disciplinary charges were brought against her and she was suspended for 13 days.
She then sued the City, the cops and the Police Commissioner for religious discrimination, retaliation and sex discrimination.
The District Court dismissed all of Officer Webb’s claims, finding that the standards set out in Directive 78 “promote the need for uniformity, but also enhance cohesiveness, cooperation, and the esprit de corps of the police force.”
The Circuit Court of Appeals explained the law on religious discrimination thusly: the employee must show: “(1) she holds a sincere belief that conflicts with a job requirement; (2) she informed her employer of the conflict; and (3) she was disciplined for failing to comply with a the conflicting requirement.” Both the District Court and the Circuit Court held that Officer Webb satisfied these requirements. But the inquiry doesn’t end there. Once satisfied, the burden shifts to the employer to show “either it made a good-faith effort to reasonably accommodate the religious belief, or such an accommodation would work an undue hardship upon the employer and its business.”
As the Philly Police Commissioner put it, enforcement of Directive 78 “is critically important to promote the image of a disciplined, identifiable and impartial police force by maintaining the Philadelphia Police Department uniform as a symbol of neutral government authority, free from expressions of personal religion, bent or bias.” Accordingly, cops cannot wear any religious garments with no exception for hijaabs. As the Court noted, the Commissioner’s reason for refusing wardrobe accommodations were “sufficient to meet the “undue hardship upon the employer” threshold that the Philadelphia Police Department was required to show.
Webb’s appeal to the Circuit Court was also dismissed.
As Jack Webb (no relation), Sergeant Joe Friday of Dragnet fame used to say, “Nothing but the facts, ma'am.”
To paraphrase, "Nothing but the hats, ma'am."
