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WASHINGTON – Several firefighters in DC are taking the District to court over a policy requiring them to shave their facial hair.
Four DC Fire and EMS workers told a federal judge Monday that the city is violating their religious rights by requiring them to shave their facial hair. According to the court release, each of the four people involved in the trial wears a beard according to their Muslim or Jewish faith.
The court is challenging a policy from DC Fire and EMS that requires employees to shave their facial hair if they interfere with a mask or face mask.
In 2007, a federal judge ordered the District to allow employees to keep their beards, as part of their religious expression.
Despite that, in 2020, the city began to implement a new policy but it was like the beginning of an epidemic. Meanwhile, Fire and EMS said there is a greater need for masks, including N-95s.
The four plaintiffs say they were told they couldn’t carry out their jobs when they showed up to work with facial hair, according to court filings. Instead, they were forced to work in office spaces.
City workers say they earned less money during the layoff period and fewer opportunities to get paid overtime and vacation pay.
The court requested that the District be held liable for violating the 2007 order.
FOX 5 reached out to the DC Attorney General’s Office, but they declined to comment.
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