RALEIGH, NC – September 21, 2010: A Sikh American man in North Carolina who practices the Sikh faith was denied a job because of his religion and race – a violation of federal and state civil rights laws – according to a federal lawsuit filed today by Public Justice and its co-counsel, Winslow Wetsch, PLLC and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. 
The complaint alleges that Durham-based M.M. Fowler, Inc., which owns and operates the Family Fare Convenience Store chain, denied employment to Surjit Singh Saund because he is a Sikh and wears a turban and beard. Saund, a U.S. citizen who has worked in other convenience stores for nearly eight years, applied for a store operator position with Fowler in early 2008. Saund was qualified for the position, but the company refused to hire him because of its alleged grooming policy, even after Saund explained that his turban and beard are required by his religion. The company told Saund that it would hire him, but only if he first removed his turban, cut his hair, and shaved his beard. “I came from India to find a better life for me and my family in America, and I was looking for a better job.” said Saund. “M. M. Fowler wanted me to choose between a job and my religion. What they did was not right, and is not allowed in America.” “Nothing about Mr. Saund’s turban and beard would interfere with his ability to run the cash register and manage a convenience store,” said Victoria Ni of Oakland, CA, a Public Justice Senior Attorney representing Saund. “M. M. Fowler had a duty to try to accommodate Mr. Saund’s religious beliefs. It didn’t even try.” Public Justice’s lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, alleges that Fowler violated civil rights laws when it refused to hire Saund and make accommodations to its alleged grooming policy to allow Saund to work for the company with a turban and beard. Fowler has approximately 70 convenience stores, located throughout North Carolina, which offer gasoline at self-service fuel dispensers. Kavneet Singh, a Board Member and Managing Director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy group, said his fellow adherents face ignorance and intolerance daily, especially since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which unleashed a torrent of discrimination. Although Sikhism is often confused with Islam, Sikhism and Islam are entirely unrelated religions. “M.M. Fowler’s actions are another example of the widespread and serious problem of workplace discrimination against Sikh Americans,” said Mr. Singh. “Every day, Sikh Americans face employment discrimination, hate crimes, school bullying, and harassment due to misconceptions about the Sikh identity. Religious intolerance is un-American, and even at a time of economic crisis, we must make sure to not lose sight of the ideals that our country was founded on.” In accordance with Sikhism, Mr. Saund, 59, has not cut his hair since birth, and has covered his hair since he was a young boy. Although he earned a college degree in chemistry in his native India, Saund could not find white-collar work after he relocated to the U.S. Since 2002, he has worked in convenience stores in New York and North Carolina. The case is Saund v. M. M. Fowler, Inc., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. To read the complaint, click here.
Sikh American Man Sues North Carolina Convenience Store Chain
A new law, S.L. 2010-112, has gone into effect which requires public schools and colleges in North Carolina to give their students at least two days off during the academic year for religious observances. Schools may require advance written notice of the absence but they are required to allow students to make-up any work they miss. This means that Sikh American students in North Carolina can get a day off to observe Vaisakhi or Gurpurab. They just need to give written notice to the school beforehand. SALDEF has contacted some schools in North Carolina to make them aware of a few Sikh holidays. Read More:
- The Religion Clause
- Charlotte Observer: Missing School for Religion? Excused
Ensuring that Law Enforcement is educated about Sikh Americans is critical. These men and women are responsible for our safety, they investigate crimes against us, and they are charged with the difficult task of quickly identifying suspicious or threatening behavior. Recognizing the need to partner with this group, SALDEF launched its Law Enforcement Partnership Program (LEPP) in 1999, and over the past 11 years has trained or distributed materials to over 100,000 local, state and federal Law Enforcement Officials. 
Under the auspices of this program, SALDEF has partnered with the Department of Justice to produce a first of its kind training video about Sikh Americans for Law Enforcement. The video, called On Common Ground, was shown to all 45,000 Transportation Security Officials in 2008 and has since been included in the Transportation Security Administration’s mandatory training curriculum for all new security officers. Over the past few months, SALDEF has provided educational cultural competency presentations in a number of areas across the country: Maryland 
On May 25, SALDEF held a Sikh Awareness Training for a dozen officers at the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD). The training was well received and the Department has scheduled a future training for their new class of recruits and will potentially use SALDEF to train each new recruit class. Additionally, the MCPD will be visiting a local Gurdwara to learn more about Sikh practices and meet the local sangat. North Carolina 
On June 11, SALDEF Board Member Kavneet Singh conducted a presentation in Charlotte, NC titled Sikhism 101: An Introduction to Sikh Beliefs and Culture for Law Enforcement. The training was organized by the U.S. Department of Justice – Community Relations Service who SALDEF has partnered with extensively over the past decade. The agencies in attendance included: • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) • U.S. Attorney’s Office • Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) • North Carolina Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI) • University of North Carolina, Charlotte (UNCC) • Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department • Gastonia Police Department, Davidson Police • Pineville Police Department San Francisco 
On June 16, SALDEF was invited by the Captain of the San Francisco Police Academy to conduct a training on Sikh Americans. This was the first in a series of trainings with the Department which will hopefully lead to a long-term partnership and mandatory Sikh Awareness training for all cadets and officers in the SFPD. The topic of the training was to highlight specific areas of interest to law enforcement when they may come in contact with Sikh Americans, be it on patrol, at the Gurdwara, or at the home of a Sikh American. The efforts above add to the growing list of significant training endeavors taken on by SALDEF. Past accomplishments have included: • Training the entire Boston Police Department • Training the entire Washington DC Metro Police Department • Performed Training at Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) It is only through your generous support that SALDEF is able to continue to build partnerships with the Law Enforcement community. Please take a few moments and DONATE to SALDEF today with either a recurring monthly donation or one-time donation. Your contribution helps us create a more fostering environment for the next generation of Sikh Americans.
Lance Martin, Herald Senior Staff Writer
ROANOKE RAPIDS— The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund along with several other interfaith organizations are demanding an apology from the Roanoke Rapids Union Mission to a man whose donation was turned down because he declined to remove his turban. The incident happened last month when ‘Gary’ Khera attempted to contribute to the cause of the R.R. Union Mission and was turned away by Executive Director Ron Weeks. The apology request was in the form of a letter e-mailed and faxed to the Union Mission board chairman Jeff Holm’s attention on Friday. When the Daily Herald contacted Holm by phone yesterday to ask if the board had made a decision on the matter, his response was, “We made a board decision to make no comment to you and that’s all I have to say,” Holms then hung up the phone. We were unable to ask any other questions The letter, written by Rajdeep Singh Jolly, legal director of SALDEF, says the organizations are writing to “express grave concern about the expulsion of Mr. Gurnam Singh ‘Gary’ Khera — a Sikh American donor — by (the) Union Mission of Roanoke Rapids because of his religiously-mandated Dastaar (Sikh turban).” The letter is endorsed by SALDEF along with American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, Asian American Justice Center, Hindu American Foundation, Hmong National Development Inc., Japanese American Citizens League, Muslim Public Affairs Council, National Coalition for the Homeless, North American Religious Liberty Association, Organization of Chinese Americans, South Asian Americans Leading Together, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, The Sikh Coalition and United Sikhs. Says the letter: “The denial of equal accommodation to Mr. Khera is fundamentally inconsistent with the nobility of your work and sends dismissive signals to Sikhs, Jews, Muslims, and other Americans who wear articles of faith in accordance with their religious beliefs. The repudiation of Mr. Khera’s donation on account of his religion is reminiscent of the Jim Crow era, when African-Americans were denied equal access to public accommodations because of their race.” Jolly says in the letter as the holiday season approaches, “interfaith groups must celebrate religious diversity in the common cause of helping the less fortunate. “To this end, we believe it would be appropriate for (the) Union Mission of Roanoke Rapids to restore its goodwill by issuing a public apology to Mr. Khera and amending its policy to allow visitors to wear articles of faith.” Since his donation was refused on Nov. 18, Khera and his wife Gwendolyn have agreed to cook for a party for foster children and adopt two elderly couples for the holidays. http://www.rrdailyherald.com/articles/2008/12/08/news/doc493d4a57853ee529788879.txt Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald
Washington, DC, December 8, 2008, – On Friday, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the oldest and largest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, in concert with 13 national interfaith and civil rights organizations, issued a letter of concern to Union Mission of Roanoke Rapids, a North Carolina charity, in response to the expulsion of a Sikh American donor from the facility a few days before Thanksgiving. Mr. Gurnam Singh Khera—a Sikh American—went to Union Mission along with his wife on Nov. 18 to make a Thanksgiving donation but was reportedly told that “this is the United States” and that he would have to remove his religiously-mandated dastaar (Sikh turban) or take his donation elsewhere. When SALDEF wrote to Union Mission on Nov. 20 to express concern about the treatment of Mr. Khera and the rejection of his donation, Rev. Ron Weeks—Executive Director of Union Mission—responded, “I can think of several options; send it by another person, mail or internet [or] donate to another charity.” Now SALDEF and its national coalition partners are calling upon Union Mission to issue a public apology to Mr. Khera and revise their policy to allow all visitors—regardless of religion—to wear articles of faith. The protesting organizations—which represent millions of constituents around the United States—include the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee; Asian American Justice Center; Hindu American Foundation; Hmong National Development; Japanese American Citizens League; Muslim Public Affairs Council; National Coalition for the Homeless; North American Religious Liberty Association; Organization of Chinese Americans; Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund; Sikh Coalition; South Asian Americans Leading Together; Southern Christian Leadership Conference; and United Sikhs. “We hope that Union Mission will live up to its creed and join the mainstream majority of Americans who believe that there is strength in diversity,” said Rajdeep Singh Jolly, Legal Director of SALDEF. “As the holiday season approaches, there is no better way to close this chapter than for Union Mission to embrace visitors of every faith.”
Sikh American Expelled from North Carolina Food Bank for Practicing his Faith; SALDEF Urges Interfaith Groups to Support Religious Freedom Washington, DC, November 20, 2008 – Yesterday, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) learned that Mr. Gurnam Singh Khera—a Sikh American—was expelled from a community center in North Carolina because he wore a Dastaar (Sikh turban) in accordance with his faith. The incident reportedly occurred at the Union Mission facility in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. Mr. Khera and his wife went to the facility to make a donation for a Thanksgiving Food Drive and expressed interest in sending their children to the facility during the Thanksgiving holidays to serve food to the needy. Upon entering the facility, Mr. Khera was told by a receptionist that “this is the United States” and that he needed to remove his Dastaar. When Mr. Khera attempted to explain the religious significance of the Dastaar, the receptionist refused to speak with him. When the Reverend in charge of the facility was summoned, Mr. Khera offered a handshake, but the Reverend reportedly refused to reciprocate and asked Mr. Khera and his wife to leave the facility, saying: “Go donate to some other place; we do not need your donations unless you remove your turban.” Every Sikh Gurdwara—place of worship—throughout the world has operated the Guru Ka Langar—free community kitchen—for more than five centuries. At each Guru Ka Langar, volunteers of all faiths serve free meals to all visitors, regardless of race, religion, gender, caste, or social standing. In keeping with this tradition, Sikh Americans throughout the United States have routinely partnered with churches and other places of worship to feed the homeless and provide relief to victims of natural disasters. “We are profoundly offended that a community center would repudiate a Sikh American because of his religion and refuse his Thanksgiving donation,” said Rajbir Singh Datta, National Director of SALDEF. “Religious discrimination has no place in the United States, and we call upon Union Mission to issue a written apology to Mr. Khera and the entire Sikh American community and work with SALDEF on efforts to celebrate religious diversity in the cause of helping the less fortunate.” SALDEF urges you to contact the Union Mission of Roanoke Rapids to express your disappointment. We commend Mr. Gurnam Singh Khera for bringing this matter to our attention. If you or your children experience discrimination, harassment, or violence because of your Sikh faith, please notify SALDEF at legal@saldef.org or via phone at (202) 393-2700.