Cop Sues After Being Forced to Shave for Obama

He has a skin condition, doctor's note
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 27, 2011 12:25 PM CST
Cops Sues After Being Forced to Shave for Obama
The officer was allegedly forced to shave with a cheap disposable razor.   (Shutterstock)

A recently retired Baltimore cop has sued the city and its police department for forcing him to shave ahead of a visit from then-President-elect Obama. The entire department was ordered to be “clean-shaven” for Obama’s arrival, but the officer, Anthony Brown, has a skin condition called pseudofolliculitis barbae, or “razor bumps,” that can cause scarring or infection as a result of shaving, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Brown brought in a note from his dermatologist saying he “should be exempted permanently from any type of shaving requirement.” But Brown’s supervisors were unmoved. They gave the 51-year-old a disposable razor and shaving cream, and ordered him “to shave right there in front of everyone without the use of water and/or a mirror,” the lawsuit alleges. This, the suit says, resulted in “tremendous humiliation, embarrassment and mental anguish” as well as “tremendous physical pain, discomfort and disfigurement.” He’s seeking $17 million in damages. (More shaving stories.)

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