Settlement in case of East Setauket woman who sued after Suffolk police made her remove hijab, leading to policy change

An East Setauket woman has reached a settlement with Suffolk County after officers ordered her to remove her hijab while in police custody in a lawsuit that led to a change in police policy.

The settlement, filed on Friday in federal court in Central Islip, will award $225,000 to Marowa Fahmy, a practicing Muslim. Fahmy argued in a federal complaint filed last year that the Suffolk County Police Department violated her First Amendment rights when officers denied her repeated requests to cover herself with the headscarf as they photographed and held her in their custody for nine hours.

The county and the police department have been relieved of any liability as part of the settlement with Fahmy, but the department had to confirm it notified active members about making current religious accommodations to people with religious headwear and must instill those rules in police academy cadets.

The Suffolk police department’s policy regarding religious head garments changed after the complaint was filed on Jan. 8, 2024, to allow officers to photograph detainees wearing religious garments that do not "substantially cover an individual’s face," according to a news release from the Council on American-Islamic Relations New York, which joined Fahmy and the Manhattan law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP in filing the federal complaint.

"Ms. Fahmy’s courage to bring this case not only secured justice for herself but led to real policy change," attorney O. Andrew F. Wilson said in a statement Friday. "This settlement sends a clear message that Suffolk County’s previous practices were unconstitutional and out of step with national norms."

In a statement, Fahmy said: "What happened to me was humiliating and deeply traumatic ... Being forced to remove my hijab and remain exposed for hours in front of male officers violated everything I believe in. I brought this case so no one else has to go through what I did."

Suffolk County spokesman Mike Martino said "the county will not be commenting" on the settlement when reached by Newsday via text Friday afternoon. Suffolk police officials were not available to comment.

Suffolk police arrested Fahmy on Oct. 9, 2022, following a domestic complaint her teenage son filed against her, which was ultimately dismissed, Newsday previously reported. Police took Fahmy to the department’s Sixth Precinct in Coram, then a hospital after she complained of heart and stomach pains.

After she was transported to a women’s jail, a female officer performed a physical search of Fahmy as a male officer watched. The officer then forced her to remove both pieces of her hijab as she "began to cry," according to the complaint. In accordance with her Muslim faith, Fahmy did not want to expose her hair and neck in the presence of male police officers.

After she was brought back to the Sixth Precinct, Fahmy was again forced to remove her hijab in front of male officers as they photographed her. Fahmy was then returned to the women’s jail, where, in addition to her headscarf, a female officer forced her to remove much of her clothing, leaving her in pants and a see-through shirt in front of a male officer. Fahmy was ignored when she said she "could not expose her body to unknown men," due to her faith and "continued to cry," according to the complaint.

"Through tears, Ms. Fahmy repeatedly explained that she could not be seen without her Hijab," that document reads. "But the officers ignored her pleas. Suffolk County police officers refused to return Ms. Fahmy’s religious head covering for nine hours."

The Suffolk County Police Department policy on religious garments now "explicitly names certain types of religious head coverings such as ‘yarmulkes, hijabs, or turbans’ " that a detainee can wear as police take their photograph, barring "unusual circumstances," according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations New York news release.