Woman Prison Guards Sue N.Y. Agency Over Skirt Ban

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Wednesday August 25 8:52 PM ET

Woman Prison Guards Sue N.Y. Agency Over Skirt Ban

               NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York was sued Wednesday for
barring female prison guards from wearing
               skirts on the job, even though some women protest that
they cannot wear slacks for religious reasons.

The New York City Correction Officers' Benevolent Association sued the
Big Apple's Department of Correction in federal court in Manhattan,
alleging that the ban violated the women's constitutional rights of
freedom of religion and speech. Six female correction officers, two of
whom have been suspended for refusing to wear pants, are also
plaintiffs in the suit.

The 11,000-member union is seeking a court order blocking the
department from enforcing the ban, which went into effect in May. A
representative of the city could not be reached for comment.

Norman Seabrook, president of the union, said that the Correction
Department had established the new policy for security reasons but
that wearing below-the-knee skirts had never interfered with women's
ability to perform their jobs in the past. He said woman correction
officers had been allowed to wear skirts since 1894.

``It's outrageous that correction officers are being forced to choose
between keeping their jobs and adhering to their religious beliefs,''
Seabrook said.

He said the anti-skirt policy made even less sense since the
department permitted the wearing of Jewish yarmulkes and Rastafarian
dreadlocks.

Separately Wednesday, an Alabama police officer was fired for refusing
to wear trousers on the job. The woman, a member of the Church of God
in Jesus Christ, was fired by the Mobile County Sheriff's Department
for insisting on wearing a skirt, which her superiors said posed a
safety hazard on the job.

But she said wearing pants violated her religious belief that she
should not resemble a man.


Wednesday August 25 4:43 PM ET

Alabama Woman Fired For Refusing To Wear Pants

               MOBILE, Ala. (Reuters) - An Alabama police officer who
refused to wear trousers on the job because she
               felt the requirement violated her religious beliefs has
been fired, her lawyers said Wednesday.

Lark Huber, a member of the Church of God in Jesus Christ, was fired
by the Mobile County Sheriff's Department for insisting on wearing a
skirt which her superiors said posed a safety hazard on the job.

But she said wearing pants violated her religious belief that she
should not resemble a man.

Huber's pastor said such belief comes from a passage in the Old
Testament Book of Deuteronomy that states: ``The woman shall not wear
that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's
garment: for all that to do so are abomination unto the Lord thy
God.''

Eric Johnston, president of the Alabama chapter of the Rutherford
Institute, a legal foundation providing assistance to Huber, said she
was a victim of religious persecution.

``She has a religious belief that women cannot wear pants,'' Johnston
said. ``Federal law says that an employer must comply to an
individual's religious codes.''

The Rutherford Institute assisted Paula Jones in her sexual harassment
complaint against President Clinton.

Huber has appealed her dismissal.

Sheriff's spokesman Chad Tucker said the mandatory uniform, consisting
of a shirt and slacks, was worn by all 156 patrol officers, including
eight other women. The department told Huber it would be unsafe for
her to wear a skirt while working as a patrol officer.

Huber was allowed to wear skirts when she was a member of the
detective unit before being transferred to the patrol unit, her
lawyer, Lynn Miller, told Reuters.

``We are asking for accommodation pursuant to Title VII of the
U.S. Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of
religion,'' Miller said. ``Title VII requires employers to reasonably
accommodate an employee in their religious beliefs as long as it will
not create undue hardship on the employer.''

Miller said supervisors offered to transfer Huber out of the patrol
division into a job where she could wear a skirt, including as a
school traffic officer or an employee in the clerical division.

``It was at a great reduction in pay, however,'' Miller said. ``Our
theory is if it's not an undue hardship to transfer her out of patrol,
they should transfer into a plainclothes position rather than into one
in which she would be required to take a substantial reduction in
pay.''

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