NEWS STORY: Muslim group issues guide to eliminating job disputes

c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Last year, a Muslim woman working for a discount retailer in Enfield, Conn., was fired from her job for refusing to remove a head scarf she wore as a sign of Islamic modesty. In Sugarland, Texas, another Muslim woman was threatened with the loss of her job at […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Last year, a Muslim woman working for a discount retailer in Enfield, Conn., was fired from her job for refusing to remove a head scarf she wore as a sign of Islamic modesty. In Sugarland, Texas, another Muslim woman was threatened with the loss of her job at an office supply store for declining to remove her head scarf.

All told, more than 80 such cases of workplace conflicts involving Muslims were reported during 1996 to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Muslim defense organization. Friday (Jan. 10), CAIR released a 12-page booklet intended to reduce the growing number of conflicts between employers and Muslims _ and to remind employers of federal laws that protect religious rights in the workplace.”We’re not talking about a new law here,”Martin McMahon, a Washington attorney who handles Muslim workplace cases, said at a news conference where the booklet was introduced.”We’re talking about the Civil Rights Act of 1964,”he said, referring to federal legislation that requires employers to accommodate worker religious practices unless they place an undue burden on the employer.


Speaking on the first day of Ramadan _ the Islamic holy month during which Muslims fast during daylight hours _ CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad emphasized that most workplace disputes involve low-level managers ignorant of Muslim religious practices and the law.

Most cases, he said, are amicably resolved once more senior managers become involved.

At the same time, added Mohamed Nimer, the director of CAIR’s American-Muslim Research Center,”the discourse on Islam in American public life is ripe with stereotypes and misconceptions”about Islam that sometimes lead to overt discrimination.

Instances of intended and unintended discrimination against Muslims on the job are increasing as the nation’s Muslim population grows and Muslims are increasingly comfortable practicing their beliefs in public, he said.

The booklet _”An Employer’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices”_ describes a number of practices adhered to by religious Muslims and suggests ways in which employers and employees can work together to eliminate problems.

Muslim women, for example, may be asked to wear a hijab, as the head scarf is known in Arabic, of a particular color or fabric to conform with a company’s designated uniform, the booklet notes.

During Ramadan, an employee’s work hours can be compressed by eliminating the lunch break to enable the worker to get home soon after sundown to break the daily fast while spending just as many hours on the job, the booklet adds.

While the largest number of workplace disputes involve Muslim head scarves worn by women, many others involve men wearing beards or men wearing the Muslim skullcap known as a kufi, according to CAIR.


In one recent case, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination directed a Brookline security firm to pay Lule Said $300,000 for emotional stress after he said he was forced to stop praying at work or lose his job (Muslims are supposed to pray five times daily).

On occasion, said Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s communication’s director, more secular-minded Muslim employers are the ones pressuring Muslim employees to dispense with religious requirements while on the job. Without giving details, he mentioned a Texas case in which a Muslim employer sought to force a Muslim worker to remove his skullcap.

CAIR officials said the handbook will be sent to every Fortune 500 company. They said 600 requests for the handbook have already been received. The handbook is free to employers. Others are asked to pay $3.

MJP END RIFKIN

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!