--- description: The officer was suspended during Ramadan title: NYPD Will Review Beard Ban After Lawsuit From Muslim Officer image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3613e3c62d1ace4b/69889a6f656a3f4e57bcc22c/gettyimages-544083730.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # New York Police Department Will Review Beard Ban After Lawsuit From Muslim Officer by [Rosalie Chan](/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 1, 2016 5:59 PM CUT  New York Police Department Emergency Service Units patrol outside Penn Station before the start of theNew York Police Department 2016 graduation class ceremony at Madison Square Garden on July, 1, 2016. New York Police Department Emergency Service Units patrol outside Penn Station before the start of theNew York Police Department 2016 graduation class ceremony at Madison Square Garden on July, 1, 2016.TIMOTHY A. CLARY—AFP/Getty Images by [Rosalie Chan](/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 1, 2016 5:59 PM CUT The New York Police Department [will review its policy banning beards](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a383d9dc1c534f6a99b2702092ad648e/nypd-review-beard-policy-after-muslim-officer-reinstated "undefined") after a lawsuit was filed on behalf a Muslim officer who was suspended during Ramadan. NYPD [Officer Masood Syed](http://time.com/4379543/nypd-muslim-beard/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined"), 32, filed the federal class-action lawsuit against his employer last week after he violated the beard policy by refusing to shave his inch-long beard. He has since been reinstated, [the _Associated Press_ reported](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a383d9dc1c534f6a99b2702092ad648e/nypd-review-beard-policy-after-muslim-officer-reinstated "undefined"). Seed’s lawsuit says that the department’s beard ban infringes on his religious freedom and is not consistently enforced. It also seeks unspecified financial damages and a court order to ban the NYPD from enforcing the rule. The NYPD said it created the rule with police safety in mind. City attorney Michael Fleming said the beard policy is needed for gas masks to fit on officers’ faces. Police legal officials say the review should take about 120 days. The NYPD will also study how it handles disciplinary cases and exemptions that involve the beard rule. \[[_Associated Press_](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a383d9dc1c534f6a99b2702092ad648e/nypd-review-beard-policy-after-muslim-officer-reinstated "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4391798/nypd-new-york-police-department-beard-ban-muslim-officer-lawsuit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4391798/nypd-new-york-police-department-beard-ban-muslim-officer-lawsuit/"},"headline":"New York Police Department Will Review Beard Ban After Lawsuit From Muslim Officer","datePublished":"2016-07-01T17:59:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:01:09.151Z","description":"The officer was suspended during Ramadan","url":"https://time.com/4391798/nypd-new-york-police-department-beard-ban-muslim-officer-lawsuit/","keywords":["New York","Race","Law","faith","justice","local"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3613e3c62d1ace4b/69889a6f656a3f4e57bcc22c/gettyimages-544083730.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rosalie Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rosalie-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3613e3c62d1ace4b/69889a6f656a3f4e57bcc22c/gettyimages-544083730.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLICE-GRADUATION-SECURITY","caption":"US-POLICE-GRADUATION-SECURITY","creditText":"TIMOTHY A. CLARY—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4391798/nypd-new-york-police-department-beard-ban-muslim-officer-lawsuit/","name":"New York Police Department Will Review Beard Ban After Lawsuit From Muslim Officer"}}]}] ```