The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced the settlement of an employment discrimination lawsuit involving Prince George’s County of Maryland and the county’s former contractor, Prison Ministry of America.
In the lawsuit, Imam Dr. Edrees Bridges, represented by CAIR and Seddiq Law Maryland, sought a job as a chaplain in the Prince George’s County Jail only to find that the position was only open to Christians.
[NOTE: The title “Imam” refers to a Muslim religious leader, similar to a pastor or rabbi in Christianity and Judaism.]
SEE: READ THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.
CAIR secured a settlement award of $195,000 for Imam Bridges and a commitment from Prison Ministry of America not to use similar religious tests in the future. The county also agreed to approve Bridges as a volunteer chaplain.
“The First Amendment protects all of us,” said CAIR Legal Defense Fund Staff Attorney John Fossum. “We are proud to bring Mr. Bridges some measure of justice in this case, and pledge to continue fighting for equality and dignity for American Muslims.”
“Edrees Bridges was a dutiful volunteer in the Prince George’s County Jail. He was highly educated, deeply experienced, and perfectly suited for the job,” added Mirriam Seddiq of Seddiq Law. “A requirement of Christian faith, for a position that serves no particular religion, is a discriminatory religious test. We are pleased that Edrees was fairly compensated for his unlawful treatment.”
“This is an important victory for all chaplains and all those who believe in upholding our collective constitutionally-protected right to religious freedom in our country,” said Dr. Edrees Bridges.
BACKGROUNDER:
CAIR filed a lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Bridges in 2021, after he sought employment as a chaplain in the Prince George’s County Jail. When Mr. Bridges received the application for the jail’s chaplaincy, a position staffed by Prison Ministry of America, he discovered a section in the application that announced all of the contractor’s employees to be Christian and that required applicants to affirm a statement of Christian faith. As a devout Muslim, Mr. Bridges determined that he could not apply.
SEE WJLA: CAIR Lawsuit: Only Christians could apply for chaplain job at Prince George’s County jail
CAIR brought a complaint in federal district court, challenging the County and its then-contractor for violating Mr. Bridges’ constitutional rights under the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. The defendants maintained that they did not violate Mr. Bridges’ rights. After multiple rounds of negotiations, the parties settled. In exchange for a payment of $195,000, a commitment not to use religious requirements in ways that violate the First Amendment in the future, and a commitment to bring Mr. Bridges back to the Prince George’s County Jail as a volunteer, Mr. Bridges agreed to dismiss his claims.
Washington, D.C., based CAIR offers an educational toolkit, called “A Correctional Institution’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices,” to help correctional officers and administrators gain a better understanding of Islam and Muslims.
SEE: A Correctional Institution’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com