A former employee of the U.S. retailer Abercrombie & Fitch filed a lawsuit against the company in a Northern California federal court his week, alleging religious discrimination. Reuters reports that the plaintiff in this case, Hani Khan, now has support from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center as well as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Kahn claims that she was fired from her retail job at Abercrombie for wearing a religious head scarf, or hijab, even though she was told that she would be able to wear the head scarf when she was hired in October 2009. But four months into Kahn’s employment, a pair of managers asked her to remove the hijab while working and terminated her when she refused to do so.
Khan's lawsuit isn't the first religious discrimination case brought against Abercrombie. KQED reported that Kahn is actually the third woman to file a lawsuit against the company for the alleged firing or not hiring based on wearing a head scarf. The other plaintiffs include 19-year-old Samantha Elauf of Tulsa, who filed suit in 2009, and an unnamed 18-year-old woman from Milpitas, CA who filed suit in 2010.
According to FindLaw, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, or national origin. The law also requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employee's religious beliefs or practices. This can include allowing an employee to take leave for a religious observance or allowing certain dress or grooming practices that are for religious reasons.
Related Resources:
- Find a Houston Employment Lawyer (FindLaw)
- Abercrombie Sued for Religious Discrimination, Again (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
- Abercrombie & Fitch & Employment Discrimination (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
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