New Third Circuit Religious Accommodation Case - Beards and Air Masks

An interesting new precedential decision from the Third Circuit in Smith v. City of Atlantic City was published on May 30, 2025. The fire department prohibited a Christian employee from growing a beard of any length in violation of his religious beliefs. 

Not official use.

The plaintiff was classified as a firefighter but actually worked as an Air Mask Technician. Accordingly, he had not actually fought a fire since 2015 and instead served on scene away from the smoke and assisted the firefighters with their "self-contained breathing apparatuses" (SCBAs). The plaintiff himself could not properly wear a SCBA with a beard because the beard would preclude a seal from forming. 

Would allowing him to grow a beard impose an "undue hardship?" The Third Circuit vacated the entry of summary judgment for the employer:

It is telling that no Air Mask Technician has been called to engage in fire suppression for several decades . . . The City can only theorize a vanishingly small risk that Smith will be called in to engage in the sort of firefighting activities for which an SCBA is required. There are no other personnel—whether administrators or active firefighters—who are seeking an accommodation relating to the SCBAs, so the risk that the City will be unable to respond to an emergency safely is all the more unlikely. 

Thus the plaintiff may proceed on his Title VII religious accommodation claim (and also a constitutional Free Exercise Clause claim).