California Sikh Man Barred from Job Over Beard Settles
California has settled a lawsuit filed by a man who was barred from becoming a prison guard because he refused to shave the beard required by his Sikh religion, officials said Thursday.Civil rights organizations said the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's policy amounts to religious discrimination. They say the state makes exceptions for men with certain medical conditions and should make similar allowances for Sikhs, Muslims, Orthodox Jews and others whose religion requires facial hair.
Under the settlement, the state will not change its rules requiring most men to be free of facial hair so they can be fitted for gas masks. But it is paying Trilochan Oberoi $295,000 in damages and giving him a $61,000-a-year job as a manager in the corrections department.
The 63-year-old, who once served in the Indian Navy, has worked at a Walmart store while he fought a six-year battle to become a guard at Folsom State Prison east of Sacramento.
