Hello Everyone :) I hope you guys are doing well. It’s been a very long time since I’ve written anything on my Facebook regarding the case with Air France. I can’t express how happy I am that my family, friends, and those that I don’t even personally know have supported me through this entire process. I’m writing to let you all know that my case with Air France has officially been settled. This journey began for me on June 2nd 2011 and now two years later I’m so excited to say that I have achieved everything I wanted and more. There’s no way that this could have been done without your support as well as the help of God, my family, and friends. I’m very thankful to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for helping me to first and foremost learn and understand my rights and for ensuring the implementation of this policy change. Thank you to the Council on American-Islamic Relations ( CAIR) for reaching out to the media and offering me legal support and advice over these past two years. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He who does not thank people, does not thank God (Allah)." (Ahmad, Tirmidhi) so I want to thank you all so much for supporting me from the start, for your kind words and positive energy during an experience that initially began as very traumatic, but I now view as a blessing. I hope that there will come a day where religious discrimination and discrimination of any kind does not occur in the United States anymore, but we cannot make that day a reality without a commitment to standing up against discrimination. When I first went to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regarding my complaint, one of the first things I was asked was “what do you want to gain from this in the end?” I responded that I wanted to make sure that Air France’s policy changed so that this would never happen to anyone else again. I’m extremely happy to say today that no Air France employee will ever be discriminated against due to their religious beliefs or background at any of their locations in the United States. After a long and complicated process, as well as many negotiations over two years, Air France and I finally reached an agreement that I am happy with. -Air France agreed to add a statement to its “Guidelines for Staff Uniformes” for its United States locations that states that exceptions to the policy will be made on a case-by-case basis to all Air France employees working in the United States. -Air France agreed to prepare and present a training program regarding the requirements of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The training is going to place a special focus on religious discrimination, including religious accommodations. The training is going to be required for all Air France employees at all their United States locations. While my personal battle is over, it isn’t over for many other Muslim women in countries such as France, where they face extreme discrimination for choosing to wear the hijab. If you haven’t already heard, there have been a series of attacks against Muslim women in France. Recently a pregnant Muslim woman wearing the hijab was beaten in the stomach and had her hair cut by her attackers. As a result of the attack she had a miscarriage. This was my battle against French Islamophobia in the United States, and if we don’t rise against discrimination now, there may be a day where Muslims in the U.S. will continuously face extreme forms of discrimination and possibly endure physical harm. I hope that whenever any of you face any sort of injustice, no matter how small, that you speak up against it and don’t allow it to happen to you or anyone else. I hope my experience with discrimination will lead someone to realize that they have rights, as well as a responsibility to address injustices when they occur.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 03:10:07 +0000
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