The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office did not retaliate against a Muslim sergeant over his request to maintain a beard, a federal jury decided Thursday.

The verdict came after less than three hours of deliberation following a three-day trial, during which jurors heard testimony from the sergeant, Sohail Kiyani, several members of PBSO’s top brass, and Sheriff Ric Bradshaw himself, who denied having any knowledge or recollection of Kiyani’s request.

Kiyani, who is Pakistani-American, had filed the lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Office in 2024, arguing that he was discriminated against and faced retaliation over his request to maintain a beard.

The sergeant had made two requests keep his beard: once in 2021, which a colonel denied, and again in 2023, after which he said he faced a serie

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