MTA Settles Discrimination Suits, Agrees to new policy on religious headdress

Local 100 VP Kevin Harrington. On September 11, Harrington transported thousands of passengers to safety. Only afterwards did management decide that his turban was a menace to safety and security.
Local 100 VP Kevin Harrington. On September 11, Harrington transported thousands of passengers to safety. Only afterwards did management decide that his turban was a menace to safety and security.

The MTA has settled lawsuits filed in 2004 and 2005 by the U.S. Department of Justice and groups of Sikh and Muslim union members. The suits were brought for discriminating against employees who wear turbans and other religious headdress. Among the plaintiffs was current RTO VP Kevin Harrington, who became the public voice of the fight against religious discrimination.

To settle the suit, the MTA has to drop discriminatory policies, adopt policies of religious accommodation required by law, educate managers in religious accommodation, and pay damages to employees who suffered religious discrimination. In exchange, the MTA gets to say it has not been held “liable” – as if we don’t know who it was that discriminated against our members and then defended those practices for years thereafter.
 

Before 9/11, religious headdress could be seen throughout the system and did not draw management’s attention. But after 9/11 this became a management preoccupation. Train Operators and Conductors, Bus Operators and Station Agents wearing turbans and headscarves were threatened with disciplinary action, taken off the road and confined to jobs outside the public view. This was discriminatory and denied them their pick rights and opportunity for overtime.

After several years of claiming that religious headdress was a safety and security problem, management then demanded that religious headwear bear MTA logos. Apparently management failed to understand that this was an affront both to religious sentiments and the principle of the separation of church and state. The settlement torpedoes this demand.

The fight against this discrimination revealed an aversion to diversity at the highest echelons of the MTA, an aversion that persisted over several administrations. We hope we have now seen the end of it.