Muslim Testimony on Religious Discrim.in Workplace Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful CAIR Council on American-Islamic Relations 1050 17th Street, N.W., Suite 490 Washington, D.C. 20036 Tel: 202-659-CAIR (2247) Fax: 202-659-2254 E-mail: cair1@ix.netcom.com URL: http://www.cair-net.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- MEDIA ADVISORY -- MUSLIM TO TESTIFY BEFORE SENATE COMMITTEE ON RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE On Tuesday, October 21, a Muslim worker will testify before the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee about the need for passage of the Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 1997 (S. 1124). The bill, which would define the employer's "undue hardship" test as a religious accommodation requiring significant difficulty or expense, is co-sponsored by Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). TIME: 9:30 a.m. PLACE: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 430 CONTACT: Erik Hottmire, 202-224-5623 --------- CLEO, INC. AND SHERATON HOTEL RESOLVE DISCRIMINATION COMPLIANTS FROM MUSLIMS IN TENNESSEE AND D.C. Companies agree to accommodate religious practices in the workplace (WASHINGTON, DC - 10/20/97) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Islamic advocacy group, today announced the resolution of two workplace discrimination complaints involving Muslims. In the first case, Cleo Inc., a Tennessee-based gift wrap manufacturer, says it will return a Muslim worker to her position following what the company called a "misunderstanding." The worker alleged that while waiting to meet her supervisor, she took a few minutes to perform one of Islam's five daily prayers. While performing that prayer, the worker was allegedly verbally harassed by the supervisor who approached her as she prayed. When the worker completed her prayer, she informed the supervisor that "I'm praying to God, I'm not crazy." The supervisor allegedly replied, "I don't care about your religion, just go home and don't come back." After being notified of the complaint by CAIR, Cleo Senior Vice President of Human Resources Everett Liddell agreed to return the Muslim worker to a position in another department. In a letter to CAIR, Liddell stated that Cleo has a long-standing policy prohibiting all forms of harassment, including religious discrimination. While claiming that the supervisor was not aware of the worker's religious beliefs or her need for accommodation, Liddell wrote: "We do apologize for any misunderstanding that may have occurred..." The second case involved a Muslim woman who was assigned to the housekeeping department of the Sheraton Washington Hotel. The woman alleged that the director of housekeeping told her she would have to take off her religiously-mandated head scarf in order to work at the hotel. When she refused to remove her scarf, she was sent home. Following a request for religious accommodation from CAIR, the hotel agreed that Muslim workers would be allowed to wear head scarves. The woman also received compensation for the hours she missed. CAIR recently published a booklet, "An Employer's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices," designed to prevent these types of incidents. There are an estimated six million Muslims in America. - END - -- ____________________________________________________________________ _____ _____ _____ Council on American-Islamic Relations / ____| /\ |_ _| __ \ 1050 17th Street N.W., Suite 490 | | / \ | | | |__) | Washington, D.C. 20036 | | / /\ \ | | | _ / Tel: (202) 659-CAIR (2247) | |____ / ____ \ _| |_| | \ \ Fax: (202) 659-2254 \_____/_/ \_\_____|_| \_\ E-mail: cair1@ix.netcom.com URL: http://www.cair-net.org To join CAIR-NET, CAIR's read-only mailing list: Send "subscribe cair-net" in the body of a message to majordomo@ari.net ____________________________________________________________________ ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytrc-10.22.97-20:09:29-23338