The owner of an upscale Salt Lake City private club is apologizing for turning away a Sikh man because his turban violated its no-hats policy.

The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund wrote a letter to Club Habits complaining that in July, Harpreet Singh Multani of Sandy tried to gain entrance to the club at 832 E. 3900 South but was told its no-hats policy applied to his turban.

For Sikh men, the turban is a part of their religious identity.

"It's a religious requirement for practicing Sikhs," said Rajbir Singh Datta, associate director of the Washington, D.C., organization.

Club owner Bill Carter said Tuesday he had received the letter and that the club would issue an apology, and invite Multani to visit again.

"We apologize to him . . . through our ignorance we didn't know there was a religious-type problem with anyone." [Link]