NEW YORK: Sikh Coalition to support US Marine officer to file lawsuit if not allowed turban and beard

NEW YORK: First Lieutenant Sukhbir Singh
Toor, an active-duty officer in the US Marine Corps (USMC), who has been
seeking to serve with his Sikh articles of faith, is now preparing to file a
lawsuit if his beard and turban are not permanently allowed.

He is being supported by Sikh Coalition, a community organisation in the US,
along with their pro bono counsel at law firm Winston & Strawn LLP. “If a
full accommodation is granted to FirstLt Toor, it would be the first, to our
knowledge, for an active-duty Sikh Marine. At present, First Lt Toor has
received an incomplete and flawed accommodation offered by the department of
the navy (DoN), which recognises his right to maintain his articles of faith
but still imposes undue restrictions on his free exercise of religion,” Sikh
Coalition said in a statement.

Toor has served with distinction
in the USMC since October 2017. “For more than three years, I have proven my
commitment to excelling in the US Marine Corps and defending my country,” he
said. “Now, I am simply asking for a religious accommodation that will
permanently allow my turban and beard, so that I can once again be true to my
faith while continuing my career of service.”

Toor, who currently serves as a
fire support officer for 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines, applied for a religious
accommodation with assistance from the Sikh Coalition and its partners in March
2021. The DoN’s response to his request, delivered in June, prohibited him from
wearing his turban and maintaining his beard in vast swaths of his current
military career.

After he appealed that decision
in June, the DoN responded with an updated accommodation in August that
recognised his right to maintain his Sikh articles of faith, but still imposed
unacceptable restrictions on his religious exercise – specifically, he would be
forced to remove his turban and beard whenever assigned to a ceremonial unit,
and to shave his beard when deployed and receiving hostile fire pay or imminent
danger pay. “Accordingly, we are now considering our final options before
litigation,” the Sikh Coalition spokesperson said.

As a younger man, Toor thought he had no choice but to compromise his faith in
order to serve his country as a Marine, due to the branch’s track record of
denying such religious accommodation. He, thus, made the difficult decision to
shave his beard and cut his hair, but committed to return to his articles of
faith at the earliest opportunity. On the eve of his promotion to captain later
this fall, he decided to apply for an accommodation in the hope that his record
of service would favourably influence his request.

“First Lt Toor has proven his commitment to the ideals of the Marine Corps and
his ability to defend his country,” said Giselle Klapper, Sikh Coalition’s
senior staff attorney. “Unfortunately, the Marine Corps only wants him to
practice his faith in ways and at times that are convenient to them; they would
rather derail his promising career than acknowledge his right to practice
Sikhi. We urge General Berger to review his record of service and grant him a
full and complete accommodation that will allow him to continue to excel in his
career with his articles of faith.”

“The Corps’ focus on aesthetic
preferences about ‘uniformity’ over either equality of opportunity under the
law or even mission readiness is a serious disappointment,” added Amandeep
Sidhu, pro bono co-counsel for the Sikh Coalition at Winston & Strawn LLP.
“The Army and the Air Force have both been made stronger by Sikh servicemembers
who serve honourably with their articles of faith; it is time for the Marine
Corps to live up to the standard set by these other branches.”

The Sikh Coalition, along with
the pro bono counsel at Winston & Strawn LLP and McDermott Will &
Emery, and litigation partners the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty have
helped more than 30 Sikh Americans in the US Army and US Air Force (USAF)
secure their accommodations. “In addition to First Lt Toor, we are currently
assisting other active duty and pre-accession clients apply for religious
accommodations.

We also recognise the important
work of the American Civil Liberties Union, BakerHostetler, and the Sikh
American Veterans Alliance on this campaign,” the Sikh Coalition release
stated. Sikhs were able to serve with their religious articles of faith in the
United States military until a prohibitive blanket policy was put in place in
1981. Since 2009, when the Sikh Coalition launched a campaign to reverse this
discriminatory policy, nearly 100 Sikh Americans have successfully served in the
Armed Forces with their articles of faith.

“No organisation likes to be told that change is
necessary, but many of the arguments that the USMC is using today to deny a
full religious accommodation are the same faulty arguments that were used to
try and deny my religious rights to serve in the US Army,” said Major Simratpal
Singh, an instructor at the US Military Academy West Point.

In 2016, a federal court issued a historic ruling
in favour of Singh that further paved the way for the US Army permanently changing
their policy. “I’m now just one of the many cases that demonstrate that our
Sikh articles of faith pose no barrier to service,” Major Singh said. He added
that it’s time for the USMC to recognise that fact.