New Jersey: An Indian-American Sikh man, who was denied a job for keeping a beard by a car dealership in New Jersey five years ago, will receive $50,000 as compensation in an out-of-court settlement.
Gurpreet Singh Kherha, a resident of Little Falls, New Jersey, who had applied for a sales position at Tri-County Lexus in February 2008, was told by the hiring manager that although he was well-qualified, he could not be hired because of the dealership's strict "no beard" policy.
Kherha then took his case to the Sikh Coalition, a community organisation, which filed a discrimination claim along with the the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in November 2008, and a lawsuit was filed in New Jersey State Court in February 2010.
The terms of the settlement with the Sikh Coalition and EEOC over alleged hiring malpractices also requires Tri-County Lexus dealership to enter into a two-year remedial programme.
