Muslim Employment Discrimination Case

In a January 29, 2010 press release at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/12-18-09.cfm , the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that an assisted living company will pay $43,000 and furnish other relief to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by the federal agency.  According to the press release, EEOC attorneys charged in the employment discrimination case that the company discriminated against a female housekeeper by firing her rather than accommodating her religious belief that she wear a Muslim head scarf or hijab outside her home.  As further stated in the press release, the company insisted that, as a condition of her continued employment, the housekeeper remove and refrain from wearing her Muslim head scarf on the job.  Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires that employers make an effort to accommodate employees’ and applicants’ sincerely held religious beliefs.  For its own part, the company denied any liability or wrongdoing.

The EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including workplace religious discrimination.  Additional information about the EEOC and the federal laws it enforces is available at www.eeoc.gov . 

Whether employment related religious discrimination against Muslims occurs in Beaumont, Conroe, Houston or elsewhere, victims may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if a religion based employment discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential Muslim employment discrimination case.