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How The MTA Accommodates Its Employees
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 6, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 6, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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After having been fired because of he wore a turban, and then re-hired because the firing violated his civil liberties, the next chapter of Sikh MTA motorman Kevin Harrington unfolded: The MTA made him put a patch on his turban (as the Daily News photo at left shows). For the love of Karma. Gothamist knows very little about Sikh tradition, but even we know that this seems blasphemous. Of course, Harrington, a 25 year veteran of the MTA who operates the No. 4 train, thinks this is disgraceful, saying, "I feel violated. I feel degraded. I feel they have no respect for my religion or the Sikh community." The MTA claims that the patching was an accomodation to Harrington to keep with the agency's wish to make sure all MTA workers wearing MTA hats or not hats at all; the Daily News points out that the Muslim women working for the MTA "have been offered head coverings, known as khimars, with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority logo embossed in the blue material, or logos to be pinned on personal scarfs" for their head scarves. Gothamist doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Newsday's Joshua Robin notes that two Sikh police officers wear their badges on their turbans, and even gets one of them to weigh in: "One of the officers, Amric Rathour, 28, of Ozone Park, said that he was comfortable wearing the badge because it is 'symbolic,' while the MTA patch is an 'advertisement.'"
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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