.... The Tioga-Franklin Savings Bank on Girard Avenue near Oxford displays signs that ask customers to remove “all head coverings and sunglasses prior to entering the bank.” The message isn’t necessarily referring to religious garments such as hijabs, burqas or yarmulkes — but, by definition, it doesn’t allow them either.
In this case, bank staffers insist they’d never discriminate against their customers.
“We do have customers who wear head coverings for religious uses,” Tioga-Franklin operations specialist Amanda Keiper told Billy Penn. “We’ve never forced anyone to remove it.” The policy is meant to target ski masks, and is rarely enforced at all, she added, since staffers know so many of their customers personally.
It’s common for financial institutions across the country to post signs that ask customers to remove caps and sunglasses before entering. After all, that’s basically the standard uniform for bank robbers, police say.
But despite their intentions, if banks aren’t careful about their policies, they can discriminate against people who wear head coverings for religious reasons. Some banks have been slapped with lawsuits for insisting people remove those head coverings before entering. [Billy Penn] Read more
