Sikh sues US Army for discrimination

In a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, a decorated Sikh-American soldier has sued the US military, alleging that because of his religious beliefs he is being subjected to “discriminatory” testing that no other soldier in the US Army goes through.

Captain Simratpal Singh, 28, was in December granted a temporary religious accommodation to serve in the US Army while maintaining his Sikh turban, unshorn hair and beard.

The accommodation, a rare exception, was scheduled to remain in effect until March 31 but in an unprecedented step backward, the US Army recently ordered Capt. Singh to report on Tuesday for “extraordinary, non-standard additional testing as a precondition for remaining in the Army”, international law firm McDermott Will & Emery, representing Captain Singh, said in a statement.

The firm, along with the Sikh Coalition and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, filed the federal lawsuit against the department of defence on behalf of Captain Singh, who has earned a Bronze Star for clearing explosives from roads in Afghanistan, and received numerous other military accolades in various positions.

Capt. Singh is scheduled to be sequestered for three days to undergo testing that no other soldier in the US Army has ever been subjected to, including the soldiers permitted to maintain beards for medical reasons and previously-accommodated Sikh soldiers, the law firms said.

The New York Times said the tests seek to determine if his helmet would fit over his long hair and if his gas mask could seal to his face.

The lawsuit demands that the US military continue to accommodate Capt. Singh’s turban, unshorn hair, and unshorn beard and “abandon its unfair and discriminatory” testing.

“For years we have worked to avoid litigation under the guiding belief that the US military would finally do the right thing,” said Amandeep Sidhu, partner at McDermott Will and Emery.