Source: Religion News Service
http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=16455
Just weeks after joining the Philadelphia Police Department in 1995, Kimberlie Webb converted to Islam and sought permission to wear a head scarf on the job.
Her supervisors continually rejected her request over the years. Last year, a federal district court backed their decision. Webb appealed, and the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the case on Tuesday (Sept. 9).
The issue arises frequently in the nation's courts: To what degree must employers accommodate a worker's request to wear religious garb? And when is meeting such a request an "undue burden" that an employer can legally deny?
No police departments explicitly allow women to wear religious head scarves on the job, said Bahir Mustafa, director of member relations for the American Muslim Law Enforcement Association, although some corrections departments do.
Webb should be allowed to wear a head scarf, attorney Jeffrey Pollock told the appellate panel, because some Christian officers in the department have been seen wearing crosses, according to Webb.
Crosses are banned by the same department regulation -- known as Directive 78 -- that also bans head scarves and all religious garb.