Category Archives: Women

EEOC sues Albuquerque hotel over ban on employee wearing hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

MCM Elegante Hotel704 HTL Operating, LLC and Investment Corporation of America, doing business as MCM Elegante Hotel in Albuquerque, violated federal law by subjecting a Muslim woman to religious discrimination and to retaliation for opposing the discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed on September 21, 2011.

In its suit, the EEOC said that the hotel failed to accommodate Safia Abdullah’s request to work wearing a hijab, a head scarf worn by Muslim women for religious purposes. In addition, the EEOC alleges that the hotel either failed to hire Abdullah or discharged her because of her religion and/or because she engaged in the protected conduct of opposing discrimination, including requesting religious accommodation.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on religion and retaliation for opposition to discrimination. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico (EEOC v. 704 HTL Operating, LLC and Investment Corporation of America Civil Action No. 1:11-cv-00845) after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement through its conciliation process.

“We will vigorously prosecute cases of religious discrimination throughout our district, including claims that involve the employer’s refusal to provide reasonable accommodation for an individual’s religious beliefs,” said Regional Attorney Mary Jo O’Neill of the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office, which has jurisdiction over Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah. “We are particularly concerned when the accommodation requested is easy to provide and the employer appears to have reacted to myths or stereotypes about a religion.”

EEOC press release, 22 September 2011

French court issues first fine over niqab ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A French police court on Thursday issued its first fines against two women charged with wearing the full-face covering Islamic niqab.

Police have issued several on-the-spot fines since the ban came into effect in April but these are the first court-issued fines, with the women vowing to appeal their case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights.

Hind Ahmas, 32, was ordered to pay a 120-euro fine, while Najate Nait Ali, 36, was fined 80 euros. The court did not order them to take a citizenship course, as had been requested by the prosecutor.

The two women arrived too late to attend the court’s deliberations. One of the women had not been allowed into the court in May because she refused to take off her niqab to show her face.

Yann Gre from the Don’t Touch My Constitution association that is defending the two women who were arrested in May in front of the town hall of Meaux, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Paris, said that they would appeal. If the fines are confirmed by a higher court, they will take their case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, he said. “This law forbids women in niqab from leaving their homes and going out in public. It’s a kind of life-sentence to prison,” he said.

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France’s burqa ban: women are ‘effectively under house arrest’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An informed article by Angelique Chrisafis on how the veil ban is playing out in France. So far no judge has handed out a fine, and the law will be challenged in the European Court of Human Rights as soon as a fine is imposed. Meanwhile, the ban has led to a rise in physical asaults on women wearing the niqab.

Guardian, 20 September 2011

Dutch government drafts veil ban legislation

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Dutch prime minister says the government has drawn up legislation to ban face-covering veils such as the burqa worn by some Muslim women.

Mark Rutte says the proposed ban will be sent to the government’s legal advisory body, the Council of State, before lawmakers vote on it, a process likely to take months.

The government said in a statement Friday that the ban aims at “protecting the character and customs of public life in the Netherlands.”

Associated Press, 16 September 2011

Dutch government to introduce veil ban backed by €380 fine as part of deal with Wilders

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Women wearing the Islamic burqa (full body cloak) or niqab (face veil) in public will soon be subject to a maximum fine of 380 euros. The planned measure is to be discussed by the Dutch cabinet on Friday.

A “burqa ban” formed part of the minority Dutch government’s programme agreed with the populist Freedom Party (PVV) on whose parliamentary support the cabinet relies.

The senior partner in the coalition, the conservative VVD, is in favour of a general ban on people wearing clothes that cover the face including not only burqas but also balaclavas and helmets with opaque visors. On the VVD website, it is argued that people can find such clothing threatening.

The Christian Democrats are the smaller party in the coalition and say: “Clothing covering the face makes it harder to indentify people, hinders communication and makes people feel less safe.”

From 2007, the PVV has called for a “burqa ban” punishable by higher fines and even imprisonment. It describes the garment as “an expression of the rejection of the West’s core values”.

It is estimated that about 150 women in the Netherlands always wear the burqa or niqab when they go out in public. A maximum of a few hundred women wear the garments occasionally.

RNW, 15 September 2011

Catholic school may ban Islamic headscarves, Amsterdam court rules

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Imane MahssanA Catholic secondary school in Volendam is within its right to ban pupils from wearing Islamic headscarves, Amsterdam appeal court said on Tuesday.

The court said independent schools, such as the Don Bosco College, can set standards to uphold their own values, as long as they apply the rules consistently. This is the case at the Volendam school, the court said.

In addition, the pupil was well aware the school was a Catholic institution when she applied and should have realised that adopting Islamic dress would not be allowed.

The school in the former fishing village introduced the ban several months after Imane Mahssan had requested permission to wear a headscarf and had begun doing so. She was then banned from attending lessons.

The girl’s father took the case to the Equal Opportunities Commission. It ruled in the girl’s favour, but the school decided to ignore the ruling, prompting the girl to go to court. It found in favour of the school, prompting the girl to take the case to appeal.

Dutch News, 6 September 2011

Spain: another town bans the veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A small town on the Spanish resort island of Mallorca has banned women from wearing burkas or face-covering Islamic veils in public places, even though only two women living there are known to do so.

Mayor Biel Serra of the town of Sa Pobla said last night’s vote was not about cultural or religious discrimination but rather an issue of public safety and having people show their faces so they can be identified. He told the AP today the ban also applies to other face-covering headgear like ski masks.

Sa Pobla joins a handful of other Spanish towns who have enacted some form of ban on body-covering burkas or face-covering niqabs. Biel said the two women in Sa Pobla wore the latter.

Associated Press, 6 September 2011

A decade of bias voiced at 9/11 hearing

Posted on by Bob Pitt

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – At an event here Aug. 27 to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, harrowing stories were related of bullying in schools, workplace harassment, hate crimes based on religious affiliations and persecution by law enforcement agencies due to wearing faith-based hair coverings.

The three-hour hearing, “Unheard Voices of 9/11”, dramatically presented the decade-long impact after 9/11 on Arab, Muslim and Sikh American communities.

“Most of the bullying that I faced happened in middle school,” said Sarah O’Neal, a young hijab-wearing Muslim at the first panel on school bullying. “I was called a ‘towel head’ and some students asked me if I had relatives in al-Qaeda.” Currently a junior at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, Calif., she added, “I felt marginalized, upset and unaccepted. I don’t want other kids to experience what I experienced in school because of my religion and because I wear a hijab.”

Navneet Singh, 16, of Redwood City, Calif., said, “I have felt isolated from elementary school onwards. In the fourth grade, I got punched in my face by a high school (student). I have been asked if I am related to any terrorist. I feel like I have to walk around with my guard up all the time.”

Speakers at the program, organized by state Assemblyman Paul Fong, D-Cupertino, Calif., the Sikh Coalition and the Council on American Islamic Relations, besides voicing their experiences, emphasized the need for policies and ideas to combat bigotry.

India West, 2 September 2011

Altercation at New York amusement park after Muslim women banned from rides for wearing headscarves

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Playland logoA New York amusement park was temporarily shut down Tuesday after a large-scale altercation erupted between Muslim patrons and park rangers over a disagreement on headgear rules.

Muslim women in a tour group at Rye Playland in Westchester County were reportedly denied access to several rides because they were wearing hijabs – their traditional headscarves, MyFoxNY reports.

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Cork councillor calls for veil ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Cork councillor has called for a ban on burkas, balaclavas or other any clothing that masks identity, on the grounds of public safety.

Cllr Joe O’Callaghan (FG) said now was the time to deal with the issue as those affected are a “tiny minority”. His comments were rejected by, among others, Ali Selim, of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, who described the proposal as “unnecessary”.

Mr O’Callaghan proposed a motion to Cork City Council, calling on Minister for Justice Alan Shatter to ban burkas and give gardaí powers to order youths to remove their hoodies.

“I knew this would cause controversy but I live in a free country and if I have an opinion I will express it. I’m doing it now because I feel now is the time to address this issue, not in five years’ time,” he said. The councillor said burkas, along with balaclavas and hoodies, have become unacceptable in public places for reasons of “public safety and common sense” following recent riots in London.

He added the burka had no place in modern Irish society. “Wearing a burka is an affront to women in this day and age and this view has been endorsed by one of our local Muslim leaders in Cork. I fail to accept that anyone with any cop-on would like to wrap themselves in what looks like a curtain all day,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

He endorsed the introduction of an Irish law making it obligatory not to cover one’s identity in public.

Mr Selim said the councillor was placing the burka, which has religious significance, in the same context as the hoodie, which has a criminal context.

“How many women has he talked to? And if some women choose to dress this way, why is he imposing a different way of clothing upon them?” Mr Selim said. “Ireland is a society with a good understanding of religion. There are lots of traditions shared between Irish society and Muslim communities. We should aim to unite on friendly ground, not aim to cause conflict among members of the same society.”

Irish Times, 20 August 2011

Via ENGAGE