A Case for Moving From Tolerance Tovaluing Diversity

Abstract

What are the administrative implications of public agency dress codes that have the effect of barring an employee from maintaining a personal appearance mandated by his or her religion? The conflict is generally presented as one between the right of a public organization to promote uniformity or religious neutrality versus the employee's right to religious free exercise, with the agency asserting that it maximizes its own goals by prohibiting religiously mandated clothing. The argument of this article is that the issue should be reconceptualized as one centering on workforce diversity.