Religious Garb-Hijaab
Issue: The primary issue in this employment discrimination case is whether or not a police officer is allowed to wear a religious garment - hijaab - with her uniform, without inflicting a burden upon the City of Philadelphia.
Facts:
Kimberly Webb is a female Muslim police officer who worked for the City of Philadelphia as a police officer since the year of 1995. In the year of 2003, she kindly requested the Police Department in the City of Philadelphia to wear her religious garb - hijaab - with her uniform while being on duty. Unfortunately, the Police Department denied her request on the basis of the Directive 78, which does not include any direct statements that allow employees to wear religious symbols or garb as part of the uniform. Consequently, Webb filed an official complaint of religious discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act with the EEOC, and even though her matter was pending, she decided to wear her hijaab to work on August 12, 2003. Thus, disciplinary charges of insubordination were brought against Webb, as she was suspended for 13 days. Finally, she brought a suit against the City of Philadelphia on October 5, 2005 via stating the following - religious discrimination, hostile work environment, and sex …show more content…
Furthermore, the District Court ruled in this manner because allowing Webb to wear her garb would not only cause the Police Department to suffer an undue hardship, but also violates the department policy in allowing her to wear her garb. Furthermore, one of the undue hardships that the Police Department would have to endure if Webb was sanctioned her request would be endangering the safety of its’ officers, and endangering the public confidence towards the Police Department in the City of
Facts:
Kimberly Webb is a female Muslim police officer who worked for the City of Philadelphia as a police officer since the year of 1995. In the year of 2003, she kindly requested the Police Department in the City of Philadelphia to wear her religious garb - hijaab - with her uniform while being on duty. Unfortunately, the Police Department denied her request on the basis of the Directive 78, which does not include any direct statements that allow employees to wear religious symbols or garb as part of the uniform. Consequently, Webb filed an official complaint of religious discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act with the EEOC, and even though her matter was pending, she decided to wear her hijaab to work on August 12, 2003. Thus, disciplinary charges of insubordination were brought against Webb, as she was suspended for 13 days. Finally, she brought a suit against the City of Philadelphia on October 5, 2005 via stating the following - religious discrimination, hostile work environment, and sex …show more content…
Furthermore, the District Court ruled in this manner because allowing Webb to wear her garb would not only cause the Police Department to suffer an undue hardship, but also violates the department policy in allowing her to wear her garb. Furthermore, one of the undue hardships that the Police Department would have to endure if Webb was sanctioned her request would be endangering the safety of its’ officers, and endangering the public confidence towards the Police Department in the City of