PHILADELPHIA: The Philadelphia School District has settled a US Justice Department lawsuit that accused school administrators of discriminating against an employee who said he couldn’t trim his beard for religious reasons.

The Philadelphia Daily News (http://bit.ly/1AuzCOe ) reports the lawsuit was settled Monday.

The settlement follows a lawsuit filed in March against the school district by the Justice Department on behalf of an employee, who is a Muslim and who has a long beard for religious reasons.

The March lawsuit was prompted by an October 2010 policy preventing school police and security officers from having beards more than a quarter of an inch long. The Justice Department says the policy discriminated against Siddiq Abu-Bakr, a Muslim school cop and others by failing to accommodate their religious beliefs.

An attorney for the district says it can keep the beard-trimming requirement, but must come up with a more detailed policy for how officers can request a religious accommodation. The district had previously settled a complaint by the guard confidentially.

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Information from: The Philadelphia Daily News, http://www.phillydailynews.com/