Alexander Smith

Alexander Smith is a devout African-American Christian and an ordained minister. Working as a first responder for going on 21 years, he has dedicated his life to serving and protecting his community. Currently, Alex works as an Air Mask Technician for the Atlantic City Fire Department. He believes that his faith and conscience require him to wear a short beard, in accordance with Scripture and to set a godly example for his congregation. Unfortunately, fire department policy prohibits beards of any length. The purported reason for this policy is to ensure that all service members can wear protective face masks as required by their role. But Alex’s job within the fire department is not to fight fires – it’s to fit masks and refill air tanks for his colleagues who are engaged in fire suppression. For this reason, Alex’s beard would not pose a safety hazard to anyone.

In 2019, Alex submitted a formal request to the fire department for a religious accommodation to wear a beard, accompanied by religious letters and Scriptural support for his sincerely held belief. But even with all this information, the City refused to grant his religious accommodation request. As a result, Alex must shave every day to keep his position, even though he has never needed to wear a mask to perform his job as Air Mask Technician.

The lower court downplayed the important precedent set in Groff v. DeJoy and ignored the strong protections of the Free Exercise Clause and the Equal Protection Clause. It is illegal for the government to deny Alex’s religious accommodation request without a compelling justification. And while the city’s concerns are hypothetical, the harm to Alex from their refusal to respect his faith is very real. Along with the Harvard Religious Freedom Clinic, we appealed to the Third Circuit.

“No one should have to choose between their livelihood and practicing their faith, but that’s the choice that Atlantic City has forced upon Alex,” said Kayla Toney, Associate Counsel at First Liberty.

“Alex has dedicated his life to serving his community for 20 years, and he wants to help his colleagues be as safe as possible,” said Joshua McDaniel, Assistant Clinical Professor and Faculty Director at the Harvard Religious Freedom Clinic. “The city should follow the law and respect his religious convictions.”

In the brief filed on April 3, 2024, Alex’s attorneys argued, “This appeal is an ideal opportunity for this Court to provide much-needed guidance after the Supreme Court’s decision last term in Groff. Mr. Smith deserves his day in court to ask the jury to hold ACFD accountable for failing to accommodate his sincere religious exercise. On the present record, ACFD hasn’t shown that allowing an administrative employee to grow a beard would result in substantial increased costs.”

Recently, Associate Counsel Kayla Toney argued on behalf of Alex at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals pointing out, “The Department has refused to make any accommodation for our client’s religious beliefs, even though federal law and the Constitution require it.” We await judgment from the Third Circuit.