An employer cannot deny a religious accommodation under Title VII to an employee because of a general concern about safety, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled May 30.
Smith v. City of Atlantic City concerned a fire department employee who requested a religious exemption from a requirement that all firefighters be clean-shaven. The rule was intended to ensure that firefighters’ air masks would seal tightly. Smith was classified as a firefighter, but he actually worked as an air mask technician, maintaining breathing apparatuses for other firefighters. He had not been deployed to a fire in years, but such deployment remained a theoretical possibility.
The district court ruled for the city, concluding that it made a good-faith effort to reasonably accommodate Smith. The appeals court instead held that the city failed to demonstrate that granting Smith’s request to keep his beard would pose an undue hardship. It noted that the accommodation would not be likely to render the city unable to respond to emergencies because no air mask technician had engaged in fire suppression for several decades.
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