News Release
For Immediate Release: 5.30.25
Contact: Natalie Konstans, media@firstliberty.org
Direct: 972-941-4453
Federal Court Upholds First Responder’s Right to Wear Beard on Duty as Expression of Faith
A victory for religious freedom in the workplace for all first responders.
Atlantic City, NJ— Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled in favor of Pastor Alex Smith’s right to wear a beard as an expression of his faith. Alex is represented by First Liberty Institute and the Harvard Law School Religious Freedom Clinic.
You can read the opinion here.
“We are very pleased with the Court’s unanimous decision to grant Alex a religious accommodation and respect his religious convictions,” said Kayla Toney, Counsel at First Liberty Institute. “Alex takes both his role as a first responder and his faith seriously. Now, he will not be wrongly forced to choose between the two.”
Joshua McDaniel, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Faculty Director of the School’s Religious Freedom Clinic stated, “The Court’s ruling upholds religious freedom in the workplace and also creates important precedent protecting religious Americans so that they can live out their convictions without fear.”
Alexander Smith, a devout African-American Christian and ordained minister, works as an Air Mask Technician for the Atlantic City Fire Department. Alex’s faith and conscience require him to wear a short beard, in accordance with Scripture and to set a godly example for his congregation. Alex’s administrative role within the fire department is to fit masks and refill air tanks for firefighters engaged in fire suppression. Because he is not required to fight fires or wear an air mask, Alex’s beard would have no impact on his own or others’ safety. But the Department unconstitutionally refused to grant his request for a religious beard accommodation. Smith appealed to the Third Circuit after a lower court refused to recognize his constitutional right to an accommodation.
In its decision upholding Alex’s free exercise claim, the Court held, “Religious liberty is our ‘first freedom.’ . . . [T]he City’s policy, the state regulation, and the federal regulation all necessarily yield to the Constitution. . . . To apply a standard less than strict scrutiny would falsely suggest that freedom of religion is a second-class right, subject to an entirely different and weaker body of rules than the other bill of rights guarantees.” The Court cited two First Liberty victories, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District and Groff v. DeJoy.
The Court unanimously held that Alex prevailed on his Title VII claim under Groff, because the City failed to show an undue hardship given that “no Air Mask Technician has been called to engage in fire suppression for several decades.” The Court also reversed the lower court’s denial of injunctive relief to Alex, so that he can now grow a beard in accordance with his faith while continuing to serve his community.
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About First Liberty Institute
First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
To arrange an interview, contact Natalie Konstans at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.
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