On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a young Muslim woman who claimed religious discrimination because a clothing company did not hire her because she wore a traditional Muslim hijab.
In 2008 when she was 17 years old, Samantha Elauf applied for a job at an Abercrombie & Fitch children's clothing store (Abercrombie Kids) in an Oklahoma mall. But because headwear violated the company's dress code, Elauf was not considered for the job.
The federal agency known as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued the retail outlet on behalf of Elauf. In an 8-1 ruling, SCOTUS decided that she had faced religious discrimination by the company. Though Abercrombie officials maintained that it was only the headscarf that caused Elauf to lose consideration for the position and not discrimination against her religion, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in her opinion that they "at least suspected" she wore the hijab for religious reasons and believed "that is enough" to rule in her favor.
The only dissenting voice was Justice Clarence Thomas who in his opinion stated that it was company policy, a "mere application of a neutral policy," and therefore could never be considered discrimination.
Though Elauf was previously awarded $20,000 in the EEOC suit, it was later denied in a federal appeals court on the grounds that she never asked for the company to alter the dress code for her specific religious needs.
After Monday's ruling, Elauf said in a statement, "Observance of my faith should not have prevented me from getting a job. I am glad that I stood up for my rights, and happy that the EEOC was there for me and took my complaint to the courts."
Muslim leaders are praising the ruling. The director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Nihad Awad, said, "We welcome this historic ruling in defense of religious freedom at a time when the American Muslim community is facing increased levels of Islamophobia."
It is reported that Abercrombie & Fitch have settled other similar lawsuits and have since changed its dress code policy to allow more individual expression among associates, as well as relaxed its "attractiveness" standard.
HotAir reacted to the SCOTUS ruling stating:
One interesting takeaway, though, is that the government is still ready and willing to uphold religious freedom. But somehow I get the feeling that this liberty loving trend won’t be quite as enthusiastically embraced if you happen to be a Christian baker who doesn’t wish to participate in a gay wedding ceremony. Ah… live and learn.
Source: Reuters, Fox News -- Photo
