Lawsuit accuses security firm of bias in banning Muslim garments

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a class-action lawsuit against a Philadelphia security-services company, accusing it of discriminating against female Muslim employees by not allowing them to wear religious garments while working.

The civil action, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia against Imperial Security Inc., accused the firm of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act when it, in effect, fired Julie Holloway-Russell as a part-time guard for wearing a religious head covering called a khimar while on duty at the Convention Center on Dec. 26. That was her first day on the job.

The khimar covered only her hair, ears, and neck, with the loose ends tucked under the collar of her shirt.

A woman answering the telephone at Imperial's Ridge Avenue office Friday said that she was unaware of the suit and that no one else was available to comment.

According to the EEOC suit, Holloway-Russell said a supervisor told her she was not allowed to wear the khimar while on duty, and was told to remove it.

She declined and left for the day. The next day, the suit said, Imperial called her with another assignment, explained the uniform policy, and said she could wear a baseball cap.

Holloway-Russell said she declined because it was "in conflict with her religious beliefs," the suit said.

At her job interview with Imperial on Nov. 25, she had worn a religious garment that covered her from head to toe, revealing only her hands and face, the suit said. She was told about the policy at that interview, commission trial attorney Natasha L. Abel said in an interview Friday.

Imperial's uniform policy requires employees to wear specific clothing as a uniform and forbids additions to it "for any reason, including religion," the suit said.

The Dec. 26 assignment was Holloway-Russell's first for Imperial, which provides security for the Convention Center and other area companies, according to the suit.

Because she never received another work call from Imperial, Holloway-Russell assumed she was terminated.

Abel said "this was not the first time" the company had threatened "to terminate other Muslim employees if they wore religious garments while on duty."

"That's why this is a class-action suit," Abel said.

In May, Imperial offered Holloway-Russell an assignment at the construction site at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the suit said.

In its offer, Imperial allegedly stated it would "relax" the no-headgear policy at this site because there would be "virtually no exposure to the general public."

Holloway-Russell declined.