McDermott Will & Emery Team Helps Enlisted Sikh Become First In 30 Years To Win Right To Wear Faith Articles in Army

For the first time in more than 30 years, the U.S. military has allowed an enlisted Sikh soldier to maintain his religiously-mandated turban, beard and hair while serving in the Army.

A team of lawyers in the Washington office of McDermott Will & Emery, and attorneys at the Sikh Coalition, a community-based organization, on Wednesday successfully secured the religious right for Simran Preet Singh Lamba.

Lamba was recruited by the Army in 2009 through the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program for his language skills in Punjabi and Hindi. He was initially advised by an Army recruiter that his Sikh articles of faith would likely be accommodated. But the Army’s current regulations do not permit a new recruit to request a religious accommodation.

The McDermott team worked with the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army G-1 to develop a procedure through which Lamba requested an accommodation through the Army’s Human Resources Command, explained a firm spokesman. But in March, his formal request was denied.

McDermott and the Sikh Coalition then appealed to the G-1, which granted the accommodation request, after close consultation with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Army Secretary John McHugh.

“We have been unwavering in our assertions that Mr. Lamba's religious requirements in no way hinder his ability to effectively serve the United States,” said Amandeep Sidhu, McDermott's lead counsel on the case in a statement. “We remain deeply impressed with the Army's forward-thinking approach in allowing Mr. Lamba to serve with his turban and beard, and reaffirm our call for the Army to consider amendments to its uniform policy that continues to close the door to other Sikh Americans wanting to serve in the U.S. Army.”

The two legal teams won one-time exceptions last year for two Sikh Army officers—a medical doctor and a dentist. Lamba is the first enlisted man to win the accommodation.

"This is historic, absolutely, in terms of what this means for Sikhs," Sidhu told The National Law Journal. "The officer accommodation was clearly a big step in the right direction. The accommodation of an enlisted soldier is an even bigger step and brings us one step closer to the average Sikh being able to serve his country."

The teams' efforts have spurred interest in Congress. In the past year, more than 50 members, led by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) have written to military officials requesting that Sikhs be accepted into the U.S. Armed Forces.

Lamba is scheduled to begin basic training this week.

“We applaud the Army’s decision, but we still have more work to do,” said Harsimran Kaur, legal director of the Sikh Coalition in a statement. “Although Sikhs have a reputation for being among the finest soldiers in the world, Sikh Americans must still seek individual exemptions to serve their country. Religious freedom is one of the bedrock American values. Going forward, we hope that the U.S. military will accept with open arms any Sikh who wants to serve.”

In addition to McDermott’s Sidhu, the firm’s team working on the case included H. Guy Collier, Stephen Ryan, David Ransom, Jennifer Belcher, and Shruti Tejwani.


Comments

[Darren Chaker]

FYI, I met and have kept contact with several associates at McDermott Will while attending this past Sedona Conference. Very talented and tenacious group of attorneys.

Sedona Conference: http://www.thesedonaconference.org/wgs

Darren Chaker

[cavtrooper]

The military prohibition on beards has a practical purpose: A protective mask won't seal to the face of someone who's bearded or even poorly shaven. However, for the three Sikhs in question (a doctor, a dentist, and a document translator, hardly real "soldiers" IMHO), this won't matter.

[Nirmal]

also, let us make clear now that we sikhs are not enemy of anyone who does not give us reason to become their dushamni (enemy). alot of westerners see turbans and right away think we are terrorists. we are not muslim, the closest relation to islam that we may share is there some bits from the q'uran and from other faiths in our holy guru granth sahib, and we share a few morals, but we are not muslim, we are not even a branch of islam. we are not arab/middle eastern, though desi (indian/pakistani/sri lankan/bangladeshi/etc.) feel that the arab/middle eastern are cousin cultures to ours. (and even then, just because u r arab/middle eastern doesn't make you a terrorist.) many times the west fabricates its own far worse kind of of terrorists, and is blind to it. they destrpy morals, and help the further downfall of society and it's accepted.

[Nirmal]

This is wonderful. i hope e can find equality other places too. im gursikh (strict sikh) and am female. i keep my head covered, as per my faith. my aunt tells me how beautiful it looks and i feel better. my landlady and my friends are telling me to become more western to fit in and i tell them our faith is not about fitting in. we believe in guiding and inspiring, standing out, standing up for what's right. as for the warriors - there are certertain sikhs who are indeed warrior type. they are very strict, and are called nihangs (said - nee-hung). many sikhs have been in the indian army, and kept their hair (kesh) and turbans (paghri). it's western ignorance which has forced them to assimilate. and sadly this doesn't just go for sikhs, or even just easterners alone. and yet, there are westerners who pretend to follow eastern faiths, including sikhism, so they can exploit others (such as western girls who pretend they like eastern guys so they can marry them, or the westerners who belong to cults such as 3ho and iskcon - more commonly known as the hare krishnas)

[Military Supporter]

I don't know the history of Sikh soldiers in any military but for RickPo I believe the military (US) must do what it needs to protect the citizens of this country. In order to get personnel willing to VOLUNTEER for mlitary service in defense of this country then yes I support adjusting the rules. Maybe if we had more people willing to VOLUNTEER then maybe we wouldn't need to do what you're suggesting. Also, I know the Army recruiter personnally who recruited this young man, GREAT SOLDIER!!!! HOOOAH (for those Army personnel)

[Bruce L.]

Whoopi, what do you mean by "other Muslims"? Sikhs are not Muslims.

[Jack5T5]

I've read about impressive contributions made by Sikhs in WW I and II in Europe, Africa, Mid-East and South-East Asia against the Axis power as part of the British-Indian forces. I understand the first turbaned Sikh in the U.S. army was a volunteer around 1915. Better having Sikh as our staunch allies than enemies. Thumbs up!

[Joseph Marchelewski]

Someone told me that Sikhs are a kind of warrior class of people. If that's true, it's great that we have them in our army!

[Gary]

RickPo
Ignorance can be a bliss till you open your mouth or write some thing as ignorant as your comments.
Sikhs are the one of finest and bravest soldiers any where in the world. More than 85,000 Sikh soldiers part of British and allied forces died in world war 1 &2 wearing their turbans and won many Victoria crosses. India which was occupied for 800 years was freed by Sikhs wearing turbans. British, USSR, and now USA has lost badly in Afghanistan, but it is ONLY Sikhs who defeated Afghans and ruled over Afghanistan.

[RickPo]

to whoopi - This one Sikh soldier is allowed to keep his turban and beard for one reason only - he has extremely desperately needed skills in translation of Punjabi and Hindi, and the military will do almost anything to recruit such a skilled person. Of course he also might just get his head blown off because of his turban and no helmet, in which case his relatives will probably sue the military for not requiring him to wear a helmet. Lose-Lose all around.

[j whoopi]

How is requiring, and allowing, individual exemptions consistent with equal protection and freedom of religion? Why is this one Sikh soldier allowed to do what other Muslims (and presumably other faiths) are not?