Woman wins $25,000 settlement in NJ headscarf case

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A woman will get a $25,000 award and the New Jersey county that fired her in a dispute over her Muslim headscarf will change its policies under a settlement agreement reached with the Department of Justice.

Essex County refused to allow corrections officer Yvette Beshier to wear a khimar, a form of religiously mandated headscarf, on duty, the Justice Department said in a statement on Friday.

She was first suspended and then dismissed over the issue. The Justice Department said the actions constituted employment discrimination on the basis of religion, violating federal law.

Under the agreement's terms, "Essex County has adopted a religious accommodation policy and procedure and will provide employees with training regarding religious discrimination and accommodation," as well as pay Beshier the monetary award, the statement said.

It quoted Thomas Perez, the assistant attorney general for the agency's Civil Rights Division, as saying an "individual should not have to choose between keeping a job and practicing their faith when accommodations can be reasonably made."

Some but not all strands of Muslim religious practice call for women to wear head coverings of various sorts.

Newark, New Jersey's biggest city, is in Essex County. the Justice Department's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission area office there initially dealt with Beshier's charge of discrimination.

(Reporting by Jerry Norton; Editing by Jonathan Oatis))