How Much Information is Required for a Religious Accommodation? By Anne-Marie L. Storey, Esq. The US Supreme Court has recently agreed to hear a case involving a failure to hire where the applicant was a practicing Muslim who wore a hijab. The applicant applied to work at Abercrombie & Fitch in the role as a salesperson (referred to by A&K as “models”). When she presented for her interview, she wore a black hijab. The hiring manager recommended hiring her. However, after consulting with the district manager, the decision was made to reject her application on the basis that she scored low in the “appearance and sense of style” category because the hijab conflicted with the store’s “Look Policy”, which was shared with the applicant. The hiring manager told the district manager that she “assumed” the applicant was a Muslim and wore the hijab for religious reasons but that she specifically did not ask about religion, the hijab, or whether the applicant would need to wear it as an employee. The evidence presented during the case also determined that the applicant had not expressed any religious or other reason for the hijab and did not say she would need to wear it during her employment for religious reasons. She did not ask for an accommodation of any kind to wear the hijab. Instead, the issue of the headscarf was simply not mentioned by either party. When the applicant was not hired, the EEC sued on her behalf. TO READ THE REST OF THE STORY go to rudmanwinchell
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 13:39:32 +0000
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