The District Chronicles

Issue date: 11/9/08 Section: Divine Intervention

Media Credit: Zelena Williams/District Chronicles

News from Harrisburg, Pa., is that after hiring Rastafarian Nieland Bynoe as a driver, UPS Freight fired him for wearing to work a beard and dreadlocks. It was company policy, and Bynoe would have to comply with its grooming requirements, the company told him in an orientation meeting last year.

But Bynoe refused to comply, telling UPS that he was prohibited by his religion from doing what the company asked and requested a reasonable accommodation. UPS fired him.

District resident Tesfa Mariam, an orthodox Rastafari and Jamaican native, is outraged. The discrimination has been going on since the sixties and seventies, he said.

"In the Bible, the books of Leviticus, Psalms, Revelations, and Proverbs reference why the Ras must grow locks," Mariam said.

Rastafari Ras Sadiki, a 10th grade teacher in D.C. said Bynoe's firing is unfair and unconstitutional. "It shouldn't play a part in his work performance, Sadiki said. "He's trying to feed his family and they're trying to make him choose between his religion and his family."

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Harrisburg has filed a lawsuit against UPS on behalf of Bynoe. In 2007, the Commission investigated a record high of 2,880 discrimination complaints, a 13 percent increase from the previous year.

According to the Compliance Manual Section issued this year, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects workers from employment discrimination based on their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or protected activity. Title VII also requires reasonable accommodation of employees.

"If a Rastafari puts a razor on his head, that's giving a man his death," said local vendor Honorable Prophetesfa. Prophetesfa said that Rastafari observe the Nazarite vow as it is recorded in the Bible.

"All the days of the vow of his separation, there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in which he separated himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow," Prophetesfa quoted.

Rastafarians taking a stand against grooming policies is not a new issue. According to a statement by James Cook, in Lafayette, La., the statewide dress code denied Rastafarian children the right to practice their religion.

Eight children were denied education for months due to their zero tolerance policy. The Louisiana Civil Liberties Union took on the case and the children, ages 6 to 14, were allowed back in school.

"It will stop when the Ras take on self reliance," said Mariam, who is also a student at Howard University.

The EEOC allows an individual experiencing discrimination to file a charge against the company at fault and take it to court. There are over 60 offices throughout the United States with headquarters in the District.

Michael J. Crocenzi, an employment lawyer in Harrisburg, said the "undue hardship" clause in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is a vague standard that might have been purposely written that way.

"That's the conundrum, because if you start coming out with a list of rules, it would be a very, very long list," Crocenzi said. "And what may be an undue hardship for a smaller company may not be an undue hardship for a larger one. ... You have to take these situations on a case-by-case standpoint. These are difficult cases."

Religion News Service contributed to this article.

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