Orthodox Jewish cop settles with Las Vegas department

An Orthodox Jewish police detective will get $350,000 from the Las Vegas police department to settle a lawsuit after he was prohibited from having a beard and wearing a yarmulke.

Liesl Freedman, the department's attorney, said Jan 26 that plainclothes Detective Steve Riback would be allowed to have a neatly trimmed beard no longer than a quarter inch.

Freedman said Riback also would be allowed to wear a baseball hat without a logo or with the department's logo.

Under the settlement in the religious-accommodation case, Riback has agreed to not to seek a promotion or transfer for at least two years.

Freedman said that if Riback transferred in the future to a section that doesn't allow hats or beards, he would have to file a new religious-accommodation request.