NY Corrections Department Settles Title VII Suit Brought By Feds

The U.S. Department of Justice announced yesterday that a New York federal district court has approved a consent decree under which the New York State Department of Correctional Services must keep in place a process under which employees seeking religious accommodations to workplace policies get an individualized review and determination. The consent decree settles a Title VII lawsuit filed last March by the Justice Department after a Muslim correctional worker at a halfway house complained he was told he must remove his kuffi (skull cap) while at work, and that there was no policy in place to review the employee's request for accommodation of his religious practices. The Department of Corrections had already agreed that the Muslim employee involved can wear a dark blue or black kuffi with his uniform. (See prior posting.)