City settles pool discrimination lawsuit with Muslim school

WILMINGTON, Del. – A Muslim school and five of its families will receive $50,000 total as part of a settlement with a Delaware city where several children were asked to leave a public pool because of their cotton garments.

The News Journal reports Darul Amaanah Academy and the city of Wilmington announced the settlement Tuesday. Wilmington doesn’t admit wrongdoing, but will train staff and issue revised regulations to “expressly accommodate clothing worn for religious reasons or financial hardship.”

The school asserted city staff discriminated against and harassed seven children because of their religion last summer. Then-pool manager Glenda Pinkett said policy prohibited cotton in the pool, but Mayor Mike Purzycki later said no such restriction exists. After Purczycki issued an apology, the school said staffers closed the pool before students could go in.

___

Information from: The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., http://www.delawareonline.com