A group of firefighters are suing D.C. Fire and EMS over its policy of shaving facial hair. They allege that it is a discriminatory practice and want to keep their beards for medical and religious reasons.
A total of 17 Black firefighters filed the suit Tuesday alleging that by introducing and enforcing a clean-shaven policy, D.C. Fire and EMS discriminated against them on the basis of religion and disability.
Some of the firefighters claim they have pseudofolliculitis barbae, commonly known as razor burn, which primarily affects Black men and causes pain and even infections when shaving facial hair. Others involved in the suit practice Islam and Orthodox Judaism and their facial hair carries significant religious importance.
The lawsuit states the plaintiffs are all career firefighters who had previously passed annual safety “fit tests” for masks used while on the job that require a tight-fitting seal around the face.
A fire department spokesman told WTOP that D.C. Fire and EMS cannot comment on active litigation.
In 2020, D.C. Fire and EMS began their facial hair restriction due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the need for tight-fitting N95 masks. These firefighters were taken out of the field and transferred to office jobs and EMS only roles, which they said offer less opportunity for advancement.
“It felt like DCFEMS was forcing me to choose between my career or my health,” Durell Herman said in a statement. “This isn’t just a career for me, it’s my calling. Being sidelined, not for something I did wrong, but for a medical condition I can’t control, was devastating.”
Herman is a D.C. firefighter who has served for nearly two decades and suffers from pseudofolliculitis barbae.
“They pulled me out of all firefighter and EMS duties for almost two years,” Khalid Bullock said in a news release. “The schedule was brutal, and it took me away from my kids.”
Bullock is a D.C. firefighter with more than a decade of service who was reassigned after requesting a religious accommodation.
In 2007, a federal judge ordered the District to allow several firefighters to maintain facial hair, as part of their Muslim and Jewish religious expression.
Part of the facial hair ban was lifted in 2021 but the firefighters in the lawsuit said it remained insufficient.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include the fire department’s earlier response to WTOP’s request for comment.
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