WASHINGTON (JTA) — A woman who was not hired by Washington’s transit agency because she refused to wear pants has won a settlement of her religious discrimination suit
Gloria Jones said her Apostolic Pentecostal faith didn’t allow her to wear pants in order to comply with Metro’s uniform policy for bus drivers, according to the Associated Press.
The Justice Department said Metro would pay Jones more than $47,000 and $2,500 each to two others who said Metro did not accomodate their religious beliefs. The transit agency also must develop a policy to accomodate workers’ religious practices and train its supervisors about religous discrimination.
The agreement still must be approved by a federal court.
Orthodox Union public policy director Nathan Diament applauded the Justice Department’s work on the matter and said the the case "again highlights the need for Congress to enact the Workplace Religious Freedom Act, which would set a single, balanced national standard for the protection of religious freedom in the American workplace."
