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Now “Hair” This: DC Firefighters & Paramedics Push Back Against Policy Banning Facial Hair


Earlier this month, several DC firefighters and paramedics filed a motion asking that their employer be held in contempt for enacting (and enforcing) a policy that prohibits workers from having facial hair and beards.

The four workers that filed the motion have argued they have beards as a result of their religion.  According to the complaint, they were removed from field duty in March of 2020 after a policy was implemented preventing workers from having facial hair.  (The policy went into place around the start of the Covid pandemic.)  In their motion, the workers point to a 2009 decision in Potter v. District of Columbia in which a federal court held that workers have a right to facial hair for religious reasons.  Consequently, the workers argue that their employer cannot prohibit them from having a beard under Potter.  At the time the policy was issued in 2020, the employer stated its prohibition on facial hair was intended to allow its workers to better utilize personal protective equipment, which it stated was not possible with facial hair.


For additional information:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/26/dc-firefighters-beard-policy-ban/

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