SOMERSET COUNTY, NJ — CAIR-NJ, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, is condemning the Somerset County Sheriff's Office after a Muslim applicant claims they lost a job after seeking beard and prayer accommodations.
"Every worker has the right to employment opportunities and a workplace free from religious discrimination. The Somerset County Sheriff's Office must immediately acknowledge the alarming trend of blatant bigotry within their office and reverse course," stated CAIR-NJ Public Affairs Director Naureen Akhter.
The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ) is the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization.
Habeeb Syed, a Muslim man, filed a lawsuit with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights on July 13.
The complaint alleges the sheriff's office violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination by denying him employment and/or rescinding an employment offer based on religion or creed and in reprisal for protected activity.
The complaint says Syed interviewed March 1 with Community Policing and Public Affairs Coordinator William Schievella for a vacant sheriff's deputy position.
According to the filing, Syed told Schievella that if he attended the John H. Stamler Police Academy in Union County, he would need to keep his facial hair and pray five times per day because of his religious beliefs.
The complaint says Schievella told Syed he believed the academy would accommodate those practices and would check.
According to the complaint, Schievella told Syed on March 3 that he had been selected for the deputy position, pending a physical exam and background check.
When Syed later went to the sheriff's office for fingerprinting on March 9, the complaint says Sgt. Joseph Bialiy told him he would be his direct supervisor.
During that discussion, the filing says, Syed again raised his need to keep his beard and pray five times daily.
The complaint states Bialiy said he did not believe the academy would grant the accommodation and asked whether Syed could get permission from his Imam to set aside those practices.
It also cites a March 18 email from Bialiy stating, "The Police Academy asked if you could get permission to shave your beard and move your prayer times after the day is completed... If you can't, please let me know."
On March 21, Syed formally requested a religious accommodation, writing that he sought "to maintain a neatly groomed beard in accordance with my sincerely held Islamic beliefs, as shaving is not permissible within my faith... Additionally, I will ensure that my prayer obligations are fulfilled during lunch or designated breaks so as not to interfere with training or classroom time."
According to the filing, Syed later wrote that he was "not able to compromise on these religious obligations."
The lawsuit says Syed underwent a physical exam on April 30 and was later told June 26 by Confidential Aide to the Sheriff Michelle Royer that the office could no longer move forward with his candidacy because of budget cuts.
The complaint alleges that explanation was a pretext "to mask religious discrimination."
Somerset County did not respond to Patch's request for comment.
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