AN NYPD recruit who claimed he was booted from the Police Academy over his scraggly beard filed suit Thursday to get his job back.
Fishel Litzman, an Orthodox Jew, is also suing for unspecified damages.
A 38-year-old Lubavitch Hasid from Monsey, N.Y., Litzman said in the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court that he was a victim of religious discrimination. He was a month away from receiving his shield when he was notified on June 8 that he was being canned.
Litzman’s attorney said his client would forgo damages if he is brought back in.”
Nathan Lewin said he made the offer in a letter to Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo.
“This fellow just wants to be a police officer,” he wrote.
A spokeswoman for Cardozo said his office had not seen the complaint.
Litzman entered the Police Academy in January and four days later he was ordered to NYPD headquarters to trim his beard. He refused on religious grounds.
The NYPDs chief spokesman said last week that the department made every attempt to accommodate Litzman, permitting beards that do not exceed 1 millimeter in length.
way to go fishel, nevermind the haters
this has nothing to do about being jewish and the right to serve! its about rules and regs, you follow them you serve, you dont, you dont serve. he wants to be a cop, he should have known that. sorry. frivolous lawsuit!
To #2 (idiot)
It’s not a waste of time to pursue an honest job. Just because he was “warned” about something, doesn’t make it legitimate. Women and men of color were also “warned” years ago of their ineligibility to join NYPD! There’s plenty of both now serving in NYPD.
Fishel Litzman, stand up and stay strong. May Hashem guide you and bless you!
dont knock this kid. he is intitled as an american to join the NYPD. if it werent for changing rules, many of the police officers would still be on horses chasing indians…….times have changed, and so should the rules. the reality is, frum jewish men and women should be allowed to work in all public sectors.
YOU SHOULD KEEP FIGHTING IT IF YOU KNOW YOU CAN HELP YOUR PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE WITHOUT GIVING UP THE BEARD, THEY’RE OBLIGATED TO ECCEPT YOU AS YOU ARE LIKE WE DO FOR THEM
if nathan lewin is involved, it is a rock solid lawsuit
Show ’em what you got!! Just remember, DIDAN NATACH WILL ARRIVE!!
That is really thoughtless, to say it nicely. How odd.
when there is a rule of general application that does not specifically target any one religious group, the plaintiff needs to prove that the rule served no legitimate purpose. This is a low standard and the govn’t will likely overcome it.
dont sue bc you thought u would beat the system. Im sorry you wasted your time and were a month a way from getting your badge… but they warned u….
Funny, he doesn’t even have that much of a beard. The Police Academy was obviously doing this “lishmoh”