My wife told me about her friend who just got booted from a job interview at Hollywood Video store in Los Gatos, CA because of her Hijab (head-scarf) which Muslim women usually wear. At first I couldn’t really understand anything and was really surprised because California as a whole is very diverse and you see girls wearing Hijab working everywhere from Starbucks to Bank of America.
I asked my wife to email her a few questions, an informal interview, to find out more about what had happened and below is the reply:
Q: How did you hear about the job, did you walk in and or apply online etc?
A: I live near Hollywood video, so I walked in one time and saw the now hiring, and I asked about it, and a worker told me to fill out an application on line, so I did that.
Q: Did the interviewer ask questions directly or indirectly about age, marital status, race, or religion?
A: In the middle of my interview she asked me about my scarf… she asked me if i was 18 or not…
Q: Was the interviewer welcoming, easy to talk to?
A: She seemed friendly
Q: Were you offered the job?
A: She told me that my availability was really good and then she told me to sign my name and date on some paper… then when I finished she said “before we go any further I want to ask you… do you have to wear that thing on your head” and I said “yes it’s a part of my religion.”
Q: What was the exact reason the interviewer gave for not hiring you?
A: Said to me “I’m sorry we don’t allow that here… it’s just not good for our environment” then I said “are you serious??… I’ve never heard of such a reason.” She asked me if there was any way I could take the scarf off… “I told her there was no way I was going to take my scarf off because it was a part of my religion. She then told me she was sorry and couldn’t give me the job but if I took off my scarf, she would give me the job! I felt that there was no point continuing with the interview any further and I left…
According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of l964, employers are prohibited from discriminating against individuals on the basis of religion. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or EEOC has a page on its website that answers concerns that are faced by Muslims, Sikhs, Arabs, and South Asians. One of the question there is:
Susan is an experienced clerical worker who wears a Hijab (head scarf)…. XYZ Temps places Susan in a long-term assignment with one of its clients. The client contacts XYZ and requests that it notify Susan that she must remove her Hijab while working at the front desk, or that XYZ assign another person to Susan’s position. According to the client, Susan’s religious attire violates its dress code and presents the “wrong image.” Should XYZ comply with its client’s request?
XYZ Temps may not comply with this client request without violating Title VII. The client would also violate Title VII if it made Susan remove her Hijab or changed her duties to keep her out of public view. Therefore, XYZ should strongly advise against this course of action. Notions about customer preference real or perceived do not establish undue hardship, so the client should make an exception to its dress code to let Susan wear her Hijab during front desk duty as a religious accommodation. If the client does not withdraw the request, XYZ should place Susan in another assignment at the same rate of pay and decline to assign another worker to the client.
Source: http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/backlash-employer.html
Another question, this time, a Sikh’s turban is in question and is relevant to the concept of scarf:
I am a Sikh man and the turban that I wear is a religiously-mandated article of clothing. My supervisor tells me that my turban makes my coworkers “uncomfortable,” and has asked me to remove it. What should I do?
If a turban is religiously-mandated, you should ask your employer for a religious accommodation to wear it at work. Your employer has a legal obligation to grant your request if it does not impose a burden, or an “undue hardship,” under Title VII. Claiming that your coworkers might be “upset” or “uncomfortable” when they see your turban is not an undue hardship.
Source: http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/backlash-employee.html
This case definitely falls under religious discrimination and there is no question that the interviewer rejected her on the basis of her scarf and claimed that it was “not good for the environment” which is basically like saying “we don’t want people walking into Hollywood Video to see you in your head-scarf.”
My wife’s friend has filed a complaint with CAIR but there has been no response yet. Where this goes now remains to be seen.
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