Retired police detective receives settlement in lawsuit over beard

The Metropolitan Police Department will pay a retired detective $40,000 to settle a federal racial discrimination lawsuit he filed over the agency's beard policy.

Ira Carter sued the Police Department in 2010, saying the policy was unfair to him and other black officers with a skin condition that was inflamed by shaving.

The agency's Committee on Fiscal Affairs approved the settlement Monday.

Carter, who retired in January after 30 years on the force, has a chronic skin condition called pseudofolliculitis barbae, PFB. The condition flares up after shaving and can cause a rash, scarring and cystic nodules on the face and neck.

Carter's doctor recommended he not shave for at least six months.

The Police Department's policy requires officers to be cleanshaven except for mustaches. For 14 years, Carter had a shaving waiver that allowed him to wear a short beard. He had been one of only 14 officers, all black, who had a waiver because of the same skin condition, according to the lawsuit.

But in February 2009, two of Carter's supervisors, Capt. Stavros Anthony and Lt. Robert Sebby, insisted he be cleanshaven despite permission from the department's doctor, now-U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, who allowed him to wear a closely trimmed beard, the lawsuit said.

Deputy Chief Jim Owens later told Carter "you're in remission" and threatened discipline if he didn't shave, according to the lawsuit.

When he showed up for his next work day with facial hair, Carter was put on light duty, not allowed to wear his uniform and faced an internal affairs investigation for insubordination, according to the lawsuit.

In May 2009 Carter filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Nevada Equal Rights Commission and was given permission to sue.

Under the settlement between Carter and the Police Department, the agency agreed to review and change its shaving policy.

The agency's policy now allows officers with a certified medical condition or a religious reason to wear a short beard.

At Monday's meeting Sheriff Doug Gillespie recounted an earlier legal challenge of his agency's no-beard policy.

In 2007, officer Steve Riback, an observant Orthodox Jew, sued in federal court, saying the policy violated his religious freedom because it prevented him from wearing a beard or yarmulke.

A federal judge ruled he could wear a beard, but the department could prohibit him from wearing a beard in uniform, Gillespie said.

"Times change, and we're following current case law in this particular matter," the sheriff said regarding the updated beard policy.

Riback later settled his case against the Police Department for $350,000.

In Carter's case, the agency had taken steps to limit its legal exposure, but it could still end up paying a large dollar figure if the case went to trial, Gillespie said.

"If a jury ruled in his favor for $1, we would be on the receiving end of the bill for attorneys' fees," he said.

The $40,000 was less than Carter's current legal costs.

Review-Journal reporter Kristi Jourdan contributed to this report. Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.