New Jersey County Settles DOJ Lawsuit Charging Failure To Provide Religious Accommodation

The U.S. Department of Justice announced yesterday that it had reached a settlement in its Title VII lawsuit against Essex County, New Jersey. The suit was filed on behalf of an female Muslim corrections officer who was denied permission to wear a religiously-required headscarf because it violated the Department of Corrections uniform policy. (See prior posting.)  The settlement, which must still be approved by the court, calls for the county to pay the officer,  Yvette Bashir, $25,000. It also calls for the creation of a county religious accommodation policy and county employee training regarding religious discrimination and accommodation.