By MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press Writer

PHILADELPHIA - Safety should trump religious freedom in the case of a Muslim firefighter who sports a beard despite a department ban on facial hair, a city lawyer argued Tuesday.

Philadelphia regulations contend that facial hair interferes with the tight seal firefighters need on their respiratory masks to get maximum air flow and keep out toxins that fires often produce.

Curtis De Veaux is suing the city on grounds that the rule prevents him from practicing his religion, contrary to the Pennsylvania Religious Freedom Protection Act.

De Veaux wants the chance to prove that his short beard does not interfere with the seal on the mask, a test the city has refused to perform.

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Mary Catherine Roper, who is representing De Veaux, argued in the two-day, non-jury trial that "if he fails the test he doesn't serve. If he passes the test, then there's no danger."

Similar tests are given to firefighters who suffer scarring or other facial deformities, she said.

The city, however, argued that De Veaux would have to be tested virtually every day as his beard changed. Assistant City Solicitor Anne Barden said De Veaux could jeopardize his own life, and those of his colleagues and trapped victims, if his respiratory seal is compromised.

"People's lives are literally at stake in these fires," she said.

No major U.S. city allows firefighters to wear beards, Barden argued. A similar suit, though, is pending in federal court on behalf of Muslim firefighters in the District of Columbia.

To prevail, the city must prove that safety is a compelling interest that warrants an exception under the state's religious freedom act. Philadelphia Municipal Judge James Lynn promised to rule quickly on the matter, perhaps within a few days.

"I believe it's an honorable job. I enjoy doing it. I believe I'm good at it," De Veaux, 25, said during a break Tuesday.

De Veaux agreed to shave when he joined the department about two years ago, but then changed his mind as his faith deepened, he has said. He was suspended in February but is now on unpaid leave while the case is being considered.

De Veaux, whose wife is expecting their second child, is also seeking lost wages. He earned more than $50,000 (euro41,140) a year as a firefighter, but now earns far less installing satellite TV services, he said.