This past fall we brought you news that a coalition had been pushing for United States military personnel of religious faith to be permitted to wear headgear and/or facial hair. More specifically, the group was advocating for members of the Sikh faith (Tajdeep Rattan, Kamaljeet Kalsi and Simranpeet Lamba pictured above) to be allowed to don turbans and let their beards grow out, while in uniform and serving.

It was in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled it wasn’t within an employer’s right to make their employee ditch their religious attire.

This clashed, of course, with the Pentagon’s rules, which is that facial hair and religious headgear is prohibited unless a special case-by-case accommodation is made that doesn’t undermine “military readiness, unit cohesion, good order, discipline, health and safety, or any other military requirement.”

Since 2010, only four of these “cases” have been made, which opened up the door to this next bit of news, that three U.S. Army soldiers of the Sikh faith (one reservist and a couple of guardsmen) lawyered up and have filed a lawsuit that slams the military for “blatant religious discrimination”.

It also asks for the Pentagon to allow them to wear their long hair, beards and religious attire — turbans — “immediately”.

This from the Army Times:

Lawyers for Spcs. Kanwar Singh and Harpal Singh, along with Pvt. Arjan Singh Ghotra, maintain the Army’s regulations require such accommodations when they do not degrade mission readiness. Delaying such requests beyond the established 30-day requirement is illegal and has adversely affected the career paths of the soldiers in question, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.

The suit names both the Army and the Defense Department, as well as several high-ranking officials, including Defense Secretary Ash Carter, as defendants. It seeks a permanent injunction “ordering Defendants to permit Plaintiffs to continue serving in the Army without regard to their unshorn hair, beards and turbans,” one that would follow the soldiers throughout their careers unless the Army presented evidence that the religious customs would interfere with their duties.

Oh and that aforementioned coalition — the Sikh coalition? They’re helping rep the soldiers in the suit, along with the firm McDermott Will & Emery.

Here are the three separate and somewhat individual complaints, from each of the trio of soldiers (also via the Army Times):

Kanwar Singh:

 … enlisted in the Massachusetts Army National Guard in August, according to the complaint, after he was told his articles of faith prevented him from earning a commission via the ROTC program. He has yet to receive a uniform and has not been allowed to handle a weapon, the lawsuit states; he made a religious-accommodation request shortly after enlisting that has not been ruled upon. He’s scheduled to begin basic training in late May.

Harpal Singh:

… entered the Army Reserve in November through the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest, or MAVNI, program. He requested religious accommodations about a week after signing his contract and also faces a May training date without an answer from the Army.

Arjan Singh Ghotra:

… enlisted in December and also has a May training date. Ghotra, a senior at a Northern Virginia high school, was interviewed by an Army chaplain during the religious-accommodation process and was asked “whether he would be willing to kill another Sikh in an opposing army if required to do so for his country,” the lawsuit states. Lawyers for the trio contend members of other faiths would not be asked a similar question.

Neither the soldiers nor the Army have publicly commented on the case. If they do, we’ll be sure to provide the details right here on this blog. Oh, and the outcome as well.