San Mateo Woman: Store Fired Me for Wearing Headscarf

[rug]

A San Mateo woman is suing Abercrombie & Fitch after she was allegedly fired from her job at the company’s Hillsdale Shopping Center outlet for not removing her headscarf.

The woman, who has not been identified, is a Muslim, and “she was told that her headscarf, though worn based on a religious mandate, was not in compliance with the company's ‘look policy,’” said those representing her in the lawsuit. She worked at Hollister Co., a subsidiary of Abercrombie & Fitch, in 2009 and 2010.

Some Muslim traditions require that women wear the headscarf, or hijab, when out in public.

Her case has been taken up by the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco - Employment Law Center, a group that works to defend the rights of the socially disadvantaged. Christopher Herrera, a spokesman for the group, said the case “came to us through the Council on American-Islamic Relations. They know that we work with employment issues and with discrimination issues regarding employment.”

http://millbrae.patch.com/articles/san-mateo-woman-store-fired-me-for-wearing-headscarf-2

[skepticscott]

1. So why did they hire her in the first place?

I'm assuming she wore the headscarf when she applied/interviewed, so if that was really why she was fired, why was she there to begin with?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. Excellent point. I'd like to know what she was wearing when she applied for the job.

I doubt they would've hired her wearing a religious outfit of any sort, Amish, Muslim, anything, if she had shown up wearing it to apply for the job.

[demosincebirth]

16. She was probably wearing western and no scarf.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

17. hahaha! Okay, thank you. I needed that laugh. :) nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

2. If people get fired for wearing improper attire at work, what's different about this?

I am so sick and tired of fundies and Muslims.

[Ninjaneer]

18. +1000 n/t

[msongs]

3. umm why does she want to work for a company that may violate her religious belief system? nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

6. I think there's much more to this story than we know. nt

[cleanhippie]

29. For staters, her belief system was not "violated".

Actually, she violated the store dress policy.

[dmallind]

5. The old private policy vs. religious tradition thing again.

Same answer every time.

1) Did she know the policy when she took the job?

2) Does the policy apply to all regardless of religion?

If both are "yes" then she is wrong and has no claim at all. If the second is "no" then the company is wrong and her claim is valid. If the first is "no" at least one of them is stupid for either not communicating or not understanding, but she still has no claim.

[ZombieHorde]

7. Interesting. Do employers have the ethical right to enforce dress codes?

Do you feel the need to be told what you can and cannot wear? Do you feel the need to tell others what they can and cannot wear?

Tough situation.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

8. Yes. Businesses can have a dress code. I worked for one of the largest law firms in the nation...

And they had a strict code of dress. You had to sign a document stating that you had read their dress code, and were aware of it.

[ZombieHorde]

9. I know employers have a legal right, but do they have an ethical right?

If they do have an ethical right to tell their employees how to dress, where are the limits? At what point is an employer going to far?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

10. Oi vei. Yes, they have an ethical right. If I open a business to sell a product, and I want people

to be presentable, and a scarf looks to Americans as 'unkempt' and it affects my sales, of course I have an ethical right not to hire someone wearing a scarf.

The issue here is whether or not she removed the scarf before the interview, then showed up wearing it at work. I think she probably did, or she'd not have been hired at a place like Abercrombie & Fitch, which sells rather young, cool, upbeat, non-religious, non-unkempt looking clothing.

[ZombieHorde]

11. I agree with your reasoning, but I feel uneasy about it.

I think I have authority issues.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

12. Don't. There are limits to everyone needing to bend over backwards for personal beliefs and whims..

Remember the commandments in public buildings are not allowed, I'm not allowed to wear open sandals in a classy law firm unless I have a foot problem and a doctor's note, remember the constant fight by fundamentalists to have public schools teach their non-scientific, religious version of how human beings came to be, etc. Since when have individual people's personal desires, and whims, beliefs and so on, taken precedence over the right of the rest?

If the woman shows up at an Abercrombie & Fitch without a scarf, works there, and suddenly develops some bacterial infection on her head and needs to cover it up, and has a doctor's note, fine. A & F can find her some job back in the stockroom where it will not cause potential customers to leave the store because they get turned off by the salesperson.

[ZombieHorde]

14. Again, your reasoning is solid. nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

15. Besides, I'd rather spend time doing for our poor, our homeless, our ill, our old and hungry

Than on someone who showed up with her head uncovered to interview for a job at (of all places, for God's sakes) Abercrombie & Fitch, only to later surprise them all with a head-covering religious sign of submission to males.

[okasha]

20. According to the news story

she was working in the stockroom, not in public.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

21. They have a dress code for the stockroom? Well, whatever. I do know this...

Abercrombie & Fitch gives me the impression of selecting their personnel based on the image they want to present, which is young, cool, western, and modern.

[sudopod]

25. Oh, THAT's what they were aiming for?

I thought they were going for conformist, spendthrift, and douchebag.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

26. No, they were aiming for, this is our business, and it's not a Muslim mosque nt

[sudopod]

27. I know, right! I'm sure all of the real americans in there

were all like "It's getting kind of Sharia in here, isn't it?" That's got to be bad for business. I mean, how am I supposed to properly prepare my bro suit for charming the ladies if I can't see her entire head?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

30. You seem very well versed in business and marketing! (not). lol nt

[sudopod]

32. Sarah,

You are probably correct! I can never hope to approach the level of genius that one typically associates with the marketing profession and with Abercrombie and Fitch in particular. One time when I was 9 I attempted to enter the dynamic world of entrepreneurship by setting up a lemonade stand. Unfortunately, I only had one lemon, but I made up for it by adding lots of sugar. While I did not attract many customers, I did attract lots of bees.

Never the less, in an attempt to better understand why such a small, put-upon company has taken a heroic stand against dangerous young female Muslim stock room clerks, I have carefully examined their latest catalog and assembled a pie chart based thereon that illustrates the target demographics that A&F's crack marketers are trying to reach. It turns out that, as you so succinctly point out, these are the sort of upstanding citizens most likely to be threatened (and/or made uncomfortable by) whatever one might conceal under a hijab:

[Sarah Ibarruri]

33. Not to fret. You've got a career in humor...

But I wouldn't give up my day job if I were you. :)

[sudopod]

34. I guess we should be thankful that they haven't decided black people aren't stylish.

Because it would be really awkward if the President tried to shop there.

Seriously, though, stroking these people's prejudices and trampling other people's beliefs should not be encouraged.

And I think the victim's beliefs are kind of silly, for the record.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

39. This has nothing to do with race, religion, etc. It has to do with a business' image

And a business DOES have the right to have an image, DOES have the right to promote that image, DOES have a right to select employees that will maintain that image, and DOES have the right to have a dress code.

[brainbowseverywhere]

40. Your prejudice is blinding you to the reality of this situation.

It is their right to promote an image; however, a dress code that violates someone's religious beliefs, which is also known as their rights as an American citizen, is unconstitutional.

You are ignoring sudopod's argument. Seriously, consider the next step. Let's say the image they want to portray is 'not black' instead of 'not Muslim', so they don't hire black people. Is that acceptable? No, and (hopefully) you would say no. What's the difference to wearing a headscarf? There's not any. Your prejudice is blinding you to the reality of this situation. It disturbs me that you value a company's right to maintain an image greater than the right of individual citizens.

"First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist..."
-Pastor Martin Niemöller

[brainbowseverywhere]

35. +1000 n/t

[Goblinmonger]

28. Replace "unkempt" with "Muslim" and I'm probably with you.

I think A&F can do what they want. I am not in their target demographic and my kids that are don't wear their stuff. To me it seems like they have a bunch of shallow, vapid idiots and douchebags working there. But whatever.

[sudopod]

36. Governor Wallace called.

He wants his argument back.

Also, lol at "young, cool, upbeat, non-religious, non-unkempt looking clothing."

Come on, in the interest of full disclosure, do you work there or something?

lol

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sudopod]

38. +brazillion. nt

[John Paul Jones]

13. Store Fired Me for Wearing Headscarf

Translation: I did not do what they paid me to do, so I was canned.

[Ninjaneer]

19. If she's that strict of a muslim

she shouldn't have been working at abercrombie & fitch in the first place. You don't need to look at A&F catalogues to know Islam and A&F's image are as opposed as can be.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

22. Opposite images, you're absolutely right. nt

[struggle4progress]

23. A headscarf needn't be very obtrusive

[Angry Dragon]

24. A post over in GD

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1373892

Part of it said she was wearing the hijab when applying for the job


edit: I shake my head at some of these posts

[onager]

31. Egyptian state TV also banned the hijab.

On orders directly from the Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosny...who was constantly aggravating the Muslim Brotherhood during the 4 years I lived in Egypt (2005-09). After the Feb. 2011 Revolution, Hosny was replaced and apparently put under house arrest.

In a November 2006 newspaper interview, Hosny criticized the hijab headdress, calling it "regressive." He added that it is "a step backward for Egyptian women," and that "women with their beautiful hair are like flowers and should not be covered up." For his remarks, Hosny came under intense criticism, particularly by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, and 130 members of Egyptian Parliament called for his resignation. (Wikipedia)

FTR, Hosny isn't exactly a Good Liberal. He was in line for a UNESCO job a few years ago, until he made a bizarre speech and threatened to burn every "Jewish book" in the (new) Alexandria Library.

Here's a 2007 BBC article about 2 female newsreaders who refused to take off their hijab:

Egypt anchorwomen battle for hijab
By Ranyah Sabry
BBC News, Cairo

The last four years in the lives of TV presenters Hala El Malki and Ghada El Tawil have been a continuous struggle brought about by their employers' refusal to implement two court verdicts.
It all started in 2002 when the two presenters decided to wear the hijab head covering worn by many Muslim women.

But their employers objected and they were excluded from appearing on the state-run TV station where they work...

There is some opposition on the streets of Cairo about whether veiled anchorwomen would be a good thing on Egyptian TV.

"I don't like to see a presenter with a veil. Actually I hate to see my society going this direction. It is not Egypt, it is not my country, it is not my Egypt," said one Cairo resident./i]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6565145.stm