Washington: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) of America has launched a lawsuit against US healthcare service providers for unlawfully firing Indian-origin Sikh paramedic Ravinder Singh.
A lawsuit has been brought against American Medical Response (AMR) and its subsidiaries, as well as Colorado-based Global Medical Response (GMR), for refusing to accommodate a qualified paramedic during a pandemic.
In November 2020, AMR dismissed Singh after he requested and was denied personal protective equipment (PPE) that would accommodate his Sikh articles of faith, including his turban and beard.
The denial came even after Singh satisfied his training requirements, was hired to work for AMR and provided them with documentation about the Sikh articles of faith. But AMR still insisted upon Singh using an N95 mask as opposed to any other kind of PPE. “Ultimately, I am in favour of this legal action because no trained expert should ever be required to stay home when they could be out saving lives.”
He was dismissed from his position in violation of his rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The Sikh Coalition filed a discrimination claim on Singh's behalf with the EEOC in May 2021, and after an initial inquiry, the EEOC found sufficient evidence to infer that GMR and AMR had engaged in religious discrimination.
The employment rights panel decided to bring the complaint against GMR and AMR after the EEOC's offer to arbitrate the matter in February 2022 was rejected by GMR and AMR. The Sikh Coalition and Buckley Beal LLP will continue to intervene on Singh's behalf in the proceeding.
