Some time ago a 17-year-old Muslim girl in Tulsa, Oklahoma, named Samantha Elauf, (who wears a “hijab” the a head-scarf that some Muslim women wear for religious reasons) sued the clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch when it failed to hire her because the hijab did not meet the company’s “look policy.”
The Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission took Samantha Elauf’s case and won, reports a press release on the EEOC website. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects workers from religious discrimination, which includes “disparate treatment,” “harassment,” and “segregation of employees based on religion. An employer must accommodate employees as long as it would not be an undue hardship.
And Houston locals will want to pay special attention to this hijab discrimination case.
The Houston connection comes not only with the large Muslim community in the city, but also because a Houston woman named Hani Khan recently filed suit against Abercrombie for having been fired for her refusal to remove the hijab. Obviously, Samantha Elauf's case bodes well for Hani Khan, who is also being represented by the EEOC.
The Elauf case gained national attention, including a story in Time Magazine, in 2009, because of the "hyper-sexualized" nature of Abercrombie advertising. Samantha Elauf's purported LinkedIn profile seems to show that she currently works at Forever 21 -- another clothing store akin to Abercrombie.
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 and Fitch & Employment Discrimination (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
- Houstonian Letters on Right to Wear Hijab (Houston Chronicle)
- Tulsa Federal Judge Rules Against Abercrombie (Tulsa World)
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