Yvonne Allen says she wears a headscarf because she believes her Christian faith requires it.
But the Tuskegee woman says she was ordered by Lee County officials to take the headscarf off when she went to get her drivers’ license renewed in December, according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Alabama on Allen’s behalf.
Lee County officials told Allen there are religious exemptions for head coverings but claimed it only applied to Muslims, the lawsuit states. She was also “ridiculed” by the probate staff for her belief, the lawsuit claims.
“I was devastated when they forced me to remove my headscarf to take my driver license photo,” Allen stated in an ACLU press statement. “Revealing my hair to others is disobedient to God. I should have the same right as people of other faiths to be accommodated for my religious beliefs.”
Alabama Law Enforcement Agency rules provide a religious accommodation for such headgear to be worn in driver license photos as long as it does not cover the face.
The lawsuit asks a federal judge to order Lee County officials to allow Allen to retake her driver license photo with her headscarf and to award Allen damages and attorneys’ fees.
The lawsuit names Lee County Probate Judge Bill English and Chief Clerk Becky Frayer as defendants. Frayer declined comment Tuesday and English had not responded to a request for comment prior to publication of this story.
Lee County’s refusal to grant Allen a religious accommodation is in violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Alabama Religious Freedom Amendment to the state constitution, according to the lawsuit.
“The county’s interpretation of state rules blatantly violates the First Amendment,” said Susan Watson, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama. “The government cannot discriminate between faiths in granting religious accommodations.”