Orthodox Jewish former city employee files discrimination suit

An Orthodox Jewish former employee of the Baltimore City Department of Transportation has filed a religious discrimination lawsuit claiming the department refused to accommodate his request to take off work on Saturdays.

Reuven Perlman, who worked as a parking control agent, also alleged the department retaliated against him for requesting a religious accommodation, first by forbidding him from wearing suspenders and eventually by firing him.

“I think this is a blatant disregard for cultural sensitivity,” said Morris E. Fischer, a Silver Spring employment attorney who is representing Perlman. “It’s really the city not taking the time and effort to embrace diversity, and that’s what this case stands for.”

Barbara Zektick, general counsel for the city Department of Transportation, did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Friday.

Religious accommodation

Perlman had only worked for the department’s safety division, which includes parking enforcement, for about four months before he was terminated, according to the lawsuit filed June 3 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

When he began work in May 2013, he was told for the first time that the job would require him to be available for work on Saturdays. He then submitted a formal request for a religious accommodation that would allow him not to work on Saturdays in accordance with his faith, according to the complaint.

On July 17, 2013, Perlman submitted requests for time off for Jewish holidays in September. Several weeks later, on Aug. 2, he received a letter denying his request for religious accommodations, the suit states. His immediate supervisor also began criticizing his ticket writing methods and accused him of insubordination when he told her he was writing tickets the way he’d been instructed, according to the complaint.

When Perlman followed up on his request for accommodations, he was told the request would be denied because it constituted an “undue hardship” for the department, according to the suit. The department never explained this claim, Fischer said.

“He was popular with the co-workers, and he’s a friendly person,” Fischer said. “People liked him, and he had co-workers who were willing to make the changes and change the times.”

However, less than a week later, Perlman was told that his holiday scheduled would be granted.

“Very soon after the grant of religious accommodation, following all of the efforts [Perlman] made to obtain his religious accommodation, Defendant retaliated against him,” the lawsuit states. “On September 4, 2013, for the first time, [Perlman] was instructed not to wear suspenders,” which he had worn before with no objection from his supervisors.

Then, on Sept. 10, Perlman was given a “very poor” probationary performance evaluation despite never being counseled on his performance prior to receiving the report, according to the complaint. Six days later, he was fired.

The performance evaluation gave Perlman low marks in categories like attendance, even though sign-in sheets show he arrived early or on time each day, Fischer said.

“There’s never any situation where they say to him, ‘We followed you today and saw you could have given out six more tickets and you didn’t,’” Fischer said. “There was not a single incident or actual situation where they could demonstrate that he didn’t do his job.”

The lawsuit seeks back pay and benefits, as well as $300,000 in compensatory damages.

The case is Reuven Perlman v. City of Baltimore Department of Transportation, Safety Division, 1:15-cv-01620-RDB.