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D.C. firefighters’ religious accommodation claims survive dismissal - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers D.C. firefighters’ religious accommodation claims survive dismissal by Louise Esola Workers Comp Coverage Sep 28, 2026 A federal judge in Washington on Monday allowed five firefighters to proceed with claims that the District of Columbia failed to accommodate their religious practices when it reassigned them over a facial-hair policy. Then judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in Bullock v. District of Columbia that the firefighters plausibly alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He also allowed part of their Religious Freedom Restoration Act claim to proceed but dismissed their retaliation and intentional race- and religion-discrimination claims. The five Black firefighters, four Muslim and one Orthodox Jewish, alleged that their religious beliefs required them to maintain facial hair. They said they had passed respirator fit tests and performed full-duty firefighting work before the department introduced a grooming policy in March 2020 prohibiting facial hair that interfered with a mask’s seal. After seeking accommodations, the firefighters were reassigned to daytime logistics work, which they alleged reduced their income and overtime opportunities and disrupted their schedules. A July 2021 policy change allowed two to return to full firefighting duties, while three were assigned exclusively to emergency medical services. The court found that the alleged disadvantages were sufficient to support the Title VII accommodation claim. An employee need not allege separate discipline or termination when the failure to accommodate itself harms the terms or conditions of employment, the judge said. Whether the reassignments were reasonable accommodations required further factual development. The court also rejected the District’s effort to establish undue hardship at the dismissal stage, noting that the employer bears that burden under the Supreme Court’s 2023 Groff v. DeJoy decision, which clarified that denying a religious accommodation on undue-hardship grounds requires showing substantial increased costs in relation to the employer’s particular business. Questions about alternative respirators, their costs and their suitability for particular firefighting duties likewise required further evidence. The religious-freedom claim survived only as to the initial logistics reassignments. The later EMS-only assignments did not plausibly impose the substantial burden on religious exercise required under that statute, the court held. The court dismissed the remaining discrimination and retaliation claims because the allegations did not sufficiently connect the challenged employment actions to discriminatory or retaliatory motives. 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