Four Nassau police officers have been harassed and denied opportunities for advancement and overtime because they suffer from a medical condition that makes shaving painful, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.

The officers say they were placed on restricted assignment because they received accommodations exempting them from shaving due to pseudofolliculitis barbae, better known as razor bumps or ingrown hairs, a condition that affects many Black, Latino and Asian men.

As a result of being placed on restricted duty, the four officers are limited to administrative duties, unable to work in sector cars, barred from transferring to more desirable positions, and prohibited from receiving additional training, the lawsuit said.

The complaint asks the court to declare the department’s decision to place the officers on restricted assignment as unlawful and unjustified. It also seeks at least $100 million in damages, attorney’s fees and other costs.

The lawsuit, filed in December in the Eastern District of New York, echoes concerns that erupted last week after the U.S. Army said it will eliminate shaving exemptions for soldiers who, like the four Nassau officers, have been diagnosed with pseudofolliculitis.

Soldiers who can’t comply with rules calling for them to be clean-shaven could be kicked out of the Army, a policy that will disproportionately impact Black troops. Up to 60% of Black men suffer from pseudofolliculitis, according to the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology.

"Nassau County has an obligation to treat African American officers with the same regard they treat other people," said Fred Brewington, the Hempstead civil rights attorney who represents the plaintiffs. "The fact that they would not accommodate a medical condition that largely impacts African Americans is outrageous."

The lawsuit names Nassau County, the police department and Nassau Commissioner Patrick Ryder as defendants. A Nassau police spokesman declined to comment. A spokesman for the county did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Attorneys for the defendants denied the allegations in the lawsuit in court papers filed in January.

"All actions taken by defendants with respect to the plaintiffs were taken in good faith for non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory legitimate business reasons and based on reasonable factors other than the plaintiffs' race, national origin, sex and/or disability," the papers said.

The condition is caused by curved hairs that grow back into the skin and cause inflammation and severe scarring. "Shaving sharpens the ends of the hairs like a spear," the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology said on its website. "The hair then curves back into the skin, causing pseudofolliculitis barbae. A 100% effective treatment is to let the beard grow. Once the hairs get to be a certain length, they will not grow back into the skin."

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Garlinsky Jean, who has worked as a Nassau police officer since 2018; Kenneth Herbert, a Nassau officer for more than five years; Alexander Renwart, an eight-year Nassau police veteran; and David Soto, who has been with the department for more than a decade. The first three plaintiffs are Black. Soto is Puerto Rican

Lawyers for both sides are scheduled to meet with a mediator on July 31.

The lawsuit said the four officers are now required to recertify their condition with a note from their physician on a monthly basis, rather than on a biannual basis. It alleges that the plaintiffs have been humiliated and harassed by superiors even though they have accommodations that allow them to be unshaven.

"What, did you forget your [expletive] razor at home," the complaint alleges Ryder said to Renwart at a November 2022 awards ceremony, when Renwart was receiving a Meritorious Award for his work as a police officer.

The department’s treatment of the four officers, the lawsuit said, is part of a long-standing pattern of discrimination when it comes to hiring. The U.S. Department of Justice and the county entered a consent decree in 1982 that called for Nassau officials to dismantle discriminatory practices that kept Blacks, Hispanics and women from being hired as police officers, the complaint said. 

A 2021 Newsday investigation found minority applicants faced significant hurdles. Only 36 Black applicants were hired by Nassau police in the six years after a 2012 hiring exam — out of a pool of 2,508.

Brewington said he is working to have the litigation designated as a class-action lawsuit, which would include any nonwhite officers placed on desk or administrative duties because of pseudofolliculitis. The complaint said officials violated rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, New York State human rights laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"This is consistent with Nassau County’s failure to appropriately address the needs of people of color in the county," Brewington said. "This is not a singular issue. It is one that goes from the top down."