| Petition
to MTA New York City Transit
August 16, 2004
Lawrence G. Reuter
President
MTA New York City Transit
370 Jay Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201-3814
Re: Sikhs in the MTA
Dear Mr. Reuter:
We write to request that the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) respect religious rights in the workplace. In particular, we are concerned that Kevin Harrington, a Sikh who has served as a train operator for over twenty years, will be required to choose a rail yard job unless he removes his religiously mandated turban.
There is nothing about Mr. Harrington’s turban that has stopped him from performing his job functions for the past twenty-three years. Mr. Harrington was even honored by the MTA as a hero of September 11, 2001 for assisting in the evacuation of hundreds passengers on that tragic day. Until this past June, he has never been asked by the MTA to remove his turban. In this light, it is unfair to force Mr. Harrington to choose between his job as a train operator and his faith.
As you may be aware, two Sikhs, Amric Singh Rathour and Jasjit Singh Jaggi, were reinstated by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) after refusing to wear NYPD uniform caps instead of their turbans. If Sikhs can serve as New York City police officers with their turbans, they should also be able to serve as employees of the MTA.
It is our understanding that the MTA is reevaluating its dress code to determine whether it will accommodate the religious dress of its employees. In the meantime, Mr. Harrington has been told that he will have to remove his turban or pick a rail yard job starting this September. We write to respectfully request that Mr. Harrington not be reassigned to a rail yard job while the MTA formulates it dress code. We also respectfully request that the MTA ultimately create a dress code that respects the religious rights of its workers, including the right of Sikhs to wear their turbans on the job.
Tens of thousands of Sikh-Americans are industrious, proud and generous residents of New York. Like all New Yorkers, Sikhs expect that they can always rely on their government and its agencies to reflect New York in all its diversity. Toward this end, we request the MTA continue to allow Mr. Harrington to wear his turban on the job.
The Sikh Coalition and the undersigned organizations and individuals look forward to working with you and the MTA to reach an amicable solution to our concerns.
Sincerely, [Organizations] [Individuals]
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