Metro poised to settle civil rights lawsuit with detective

By Abigail Goldman

Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Metro Police are preparing to pay a $350,000 settlement to Detective Steve Riback, an Orthodox Jew who sued the department in 2007 after he was prohibited from wearing a head covering and a beard, even though his religion requires it.

The settlement is set to be approved Monday by Metro’s fiscal affairs committee. It is listed as an item under the meeting’s “consent agenda” — a group of varying fiscal matters that is usually approved with no discussion.

Riback’s attorneys, Nevada ACLU staff attorney Lee Rowland and general counsel Allen Lichtenstein, would not discuss details of the settlement until it is formally approved.

Metro officials were likewise inclined to offer only limited comment Wednesday.

“We think it’s a fair and reasonable settlement in a disputed case and we hope the fiscal affairs committee will approve it,” said Carla Alston, director of the department’s Public Information Office.

The real success, Lichtenstein said, is non-monetary: Riback will be allowed to wear a short beard and a head covering.

In August, a judge ruled Riback was allowed to wear the short beard, but left the issue of the head covering up to a jury. The settlement is evidence, however, that Metro has decided not to take the issue to trial.

What’s not certain is whether the detective will be allowed to wear a yarmulke, a small skull cap traditionally worn by members of the Orthodox faith. Lichtenstein would say only that Riback can cover his head. The detective has expressed willingness to wear a department-issued police hat or a baseball cap, as his faith does not mandate a yarmulke specifically, only that the head be covered.

The detective was not available for comment. He works in the department’s quality assurance office, a section dedicated to reviewing Metro policy.

In his current job, Riback is nonuniformed and has little interaction with the public. Before his current position, Riback was a detective in the vice section, where undercover officers are permitted to wear beards and hats. The facial hair became a problem when Riback switched to the desk job and was ordered to shave. He obliged, but requested a religious accommodation to wear the beard and head cover. Metro denied both.

The department initially told Riback that law enforcement officials must remain “religion neutral.” At the time, however, the department allowed officers to wear plain hats indoors and pins denoting affiliations with religious groups, such as the International Fellowship of Christian Police Officers pin, which includes a picture of an open Bible. Metro banned the pins and indoor hats in April 2007, after the Sun wrote about Riback’s complaint and Metro’s policies. The department said the change was not related to Riback’s complaint.

As a result of Riback’s case, the ACLU and the police department have worked together to ensure the police policy manual is clear as it pertains to procedures for future questions of religious accommodation, Lichtenstein said.

Riback has been with Metro for more than 10 years. His attorneys say he hasn’t expressed any plans to leave.