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Supreme Court Rules Against Abercrombie in Discrimination Suit Centered on a Hijab

In a case being hailed as a landmark by religious advocacy groups, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down an unusual 8-1 decision against high-end retailer Abercrombie & Fitch. The case involved a prospective employee who claimed she was refused employment because she wore a hijab, or headscarf favored by some Muslim women. So reports Politico.

The court ruled the organization was in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by not providing reasonable accommodation to the plaintiff regarding her religious beliefs. The original suit dates back to 2008 and was brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of the plaintiff, Samantha Elauf.

The high court’s ruling overturned a prior decision by a lower court in the 10th Circuit and sent the case back to it for review. Abercrombie, whose dress code at the time prohibited any kind of head covering, claimed its policy was therefore non-discriminatory.

However, the majority decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia indicated that the store’s policy violated the plaintiff’s civil rights, even though she had not explicitly asked for religious accommodation. The retailer, whose uniform dress code and sexually suggestive imagery have for years targeted mainly a young, overwhelmingly Caucasian market, has been sued previously for discrimination on the basis of religion as well as lack of diversity.

In 2013, the organization settled two such suits on behalf of Muslim employees for $71,000, while in 2005, Abercrombie paid out a whopping $50 million to African-American, Latino and Asian job applicants who alleged a lack of diversity on the retailer’s part.

It should be noted that, by contrast, hijabs have been banned in public by the government in France (and some other countries) in an effort to tamp down rising tensions between Muslim and non-Muslim citizens.

Read the full article from Politico.

 

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