http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/200614p-173038c.html
TA derails worker over turban
By PETE DONOHUE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
A veteran Sikh subway motorman has been reassigned after being told by a supervisor he couldn't drive passenger trains while wearing a turban.
Starting today, Kevin Harrington, a Transit Authority worker for more than two decades, will be shifted to moving trains in a subway yard.
"I'm very angry," said Harrington, 53, a convert to the Sikh religion. "I feel it's a betrayal on their part, and I consider it a violation of my freedom of religion."
Harrington said a supervisor told him Thursday that if he wanted to continue making runs on the No.4 line, he could only wear the official TA cap.
The Bronx resident has been a motorman for 20 of the 23 years he has worked for the TA. He said he wore a turban when he was hired, when he was promoted to motorman from cleaner and for every trip he has taken on the rails.
A TA spokesman confirmed that Harrington had been told he could wear only the official cap and not his turban while ferrying passengers, but declined to comment further.
Union officials were outraged with the decision.
Last year, the Daily News reported that three Muslim busdrivers were told they must wear TA caps over their religious headdresses, called khimars.
The women refused and were given assignments moving buses between garages. They no longer transport passengers.
The three lost a decision on a union grievance, but have filed court challenges, officials said.
"The TA's obsession with religious headgear is an attempt to exploit 9/11 and promote hysteria," Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint said.
"Having embarked on a bad course ... by going after Muslim women bus operators, now they are making matters worse by going after Brother Harrington, a Sikh, who has been operating trains for two decades. We intend to take every available avenue to respond to these attacks."
