Nashville: Hospital pays $70,000 to Muslim after denying him time off for trip to Mecca

By Janell Ross

Southern Hills Medical Center in Nashville has agreed to pay a former employee $70,000 in damages after denying him time off to make a pilgrimage to Mecca but admitted no wrongdoing when it settled the religious discrimination case on Monday.

In late 2007, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit on behalf of Wali Telwar, a Muslim former Southern Hills medical technician who lives in Nashville.

He asked to visit Mecca

The hospital refused to allow Telwar to use just over 20 days of accumulated vacation time to take a trip to Mecca. Every Muslim is required to make the hajj — a pilgrimage to the Saudi Arabian birthplace of the Islamic religion and its prophet — in their lifetime.

Telwar, who had worked at the hospital for three years, also claimed he was told that if he insisted on attending the hajj he would have to quit his job and reapply when he returned.

Telwar resigned, according to the suit. When he returned, Southern Hills did not rehire him. The hospital hired three other medical technicians. Read more ...

Source: The Tennessean
H/T: Jihad Watch

EEOC
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Minnesota: Muslims at chicken plant win $1.35 million in discrimination suit

By Chris Serres

A federal judge gave approval for Gold'n Plump Inc. and an employment agency to pay $1.35 million to settle lawsuits alleging religious discrimination against Muslims at a chicken processing plant in Cold Spring, Minn.

The money will go to 128 Somali Muslims who claim that St. Cloud-based Gold'n Plump violated their religious rights by refusing to allow them prayer breaks during work hours, and to another 28 workers who said a St. Paul employment agency, the Work Connection Inc., required them to sign forms acknowledging they would be required to handle pork.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigated the allegations and said it found cause to believe discrimination occurred, according to lawsuits filed last year.

In a settlement approved Tuesday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeanne Graham, Gold'n Plump will add a paid break during the second half of each shift to accommodate Muslim employees who wish to pray. The break is in addition to one early in the shift and lunch breaks required by law. Read more ...

Source: Star Tribune
H/T: Jihad WatchEEOC
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Should Muslims living in a non-Muslim country integrate into host society?
	I am a Muslim living in a predominantly Muslim country
	Yes, Muslims should integrate into the host society
	No, Muslims should live segregated from the host society
	I am a Muslim living in North America
	Yes, Muslims should integrate into the host society
	No, Muslims should live segregated from the host society
	I am a Muslim living in Western Europe
	Yes, Muslims should integrate into the host society
	No, Muslims should live segregated from the host society
	I am a Muslim living in Eastern Europe
	Yes, Muslims should integrate into the host society
	No, Muslims should live segregated from the host society
	I am a Muslim living in none of the above
	Yes, Muslims should integrate into the host society
	No, Muslims should live segregated from the host society
	I am not a Muslim
	Yes, Muslims should integrate into the host society
	No, Muslims should live segregated from the host society

2008 Dhimmi Awards

First Place (6 points):
Jimmy Carter / State Department

Third Place (5 points):
The FBI

Fourth Place (4 points):
British Government / Harvard University / Jacqui Smith / John Esposito / YouTube

Ninth Place (3 points):
ACLU / BBC / EEOC / Noah Feldman

Source: Muslims Against Sharia Blog

Minnesota Plant That Fired Muslims for Taking Prayer Breaks Will Pay $365,000

MINNEAPOLIS — Under a settlement to a federal lawsuit, up to 100 Somali Muslims who are current or former workers at Gold'n Plump Inc. will receive a total of $365,000.

The settlement was filed in Minneapolis on Friday. It sprang from allegations of religious discrimination at the company's chicken processing plants in Cold Spring and Arcadia, Wis.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed lawsuits against St. Cloud-based Gold'n Plump and the Work Connection Inc., an employment agency in St. Paul, which handled some hiring for the plant.

Under the settlement, Gold'n Plump agreed to pay $215,000 to workers who were terminated for taking prayer breaks.

The Work Connection will pay $150,000 to workers who were asked to sign a form acknowledging that they might be required to handle pork, which many Muslims consider unclean.

The EEOC estimates that 40 to 100 workers will qualify for the payments.

Source: APEEOC
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award

Meat-plant owner "uncooperative" in Muslim prayer fight

By David Migoya

A [Muslim Brotherhood front that claims to be a] civil-rights group holds little hope that a week-old dispute between Muslim workers and their bosses at a Greeley slaughterhouse will end quickly, based on the company's recent response in a similar standoff in Nebraska.

A mediation session between Brazilian-owned JBS Swift & Co. and the Council on American-Islamic Relations to discuss issues involving Muslim employees at its Grand Island, Neb., plant ended Wednesday without progress, CAIR officials said.

"They were completely uncooperative," said Christina Abraham, director of civil rights at CAIR's office in Chicago, which is handling both Swift disputes.

"Though we're hopeful, the issue in Greeley may follow the same route and it could take years," she said.

There was no date to resume the mediation.

It was the first hearing on 20 complaints that CAIR filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over problems Muslim workers say they had with Swift over prayer breaks at the plant last year.

Each complaint is offered mediation before the EEOC investigates, and Wednesday's was the only session Swift agreed to attend so far, Abraham said.

Source: The Denver Post
H/T: Shariah Finance WatchJBS Swift Plant
Latest recipient of The MASH Award

Somalis win prayer case at Gold'n Plump. The agreement to permit short prayer breaks and accommodate rules against handling pork could set a precedent

By Chris Serres

In a landmark settlement that could change the way Muslims are treated in the workplace, St. Cloud-based Gold'n Plump Inc. has agreed to allow Somali workers short prayer breaks and the right to refuse handling pork at its poultry processing facilities.

The federally mediated agreement is among the first in the nation that requires employers to accommodate the Islamic prayer schedule and the belief, held by many strict Muslims, that the Qur'an prohibits the touching and eating of pork products.

"For this group of Americans at this time in our nation's history, this is a very important outcome," said Joe Snodgrass, a St. Paul attorney who represented workers in the case.

The agreement follows a year-long examination by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and a class-action lawsuit brought in October 2006 on behalf of nine Somali immigrants who worked at Gold'n Plump's poultry processing plants in Cold Spring, Minn., and Arcadia, Wis.

An EEOC attorney said both sides have reached a settlement in principle. Read more ...

Source: Minneapolis Star TribuneEEOC
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North Texas employers answer prayer room requests

By Jessica Meyers

Manzur Mahmud used to hide when he prayed.

He'd duck down in his cubicle at Dallas' Texas Instruments or scramble to a friend's office to conduct two of his five daily Muslim prayers. Now the Bangladeshi engineer walks down the corridor and enters a small prayer room.

North Texas companies are increasingly making space for quiet rooms as Muslim employees play a larger role in the U.S. workplace and feel more secure about verbalizing their faith.

Meanwhile, businesses nationwide are seeing a rise in the number of religious discrimination charges. The changing nature of the workplace is forcing organizations to navigate the nuances of religious acceptance and office productivity.

"People have started coming forward and identifying themselves as Muslims," said Mr. Mahmud. "And employers are realizing that if their employees are happy, they work better."

Dallas-based American Airlines has a multipurpose room visited up to four times a day by its Muslim employees who previously prayed in the stairwells. Nortel's Dallas campus has several scattered quiet rooms available for prayer, and Electronic Data Systems in Plano just opened one last fall. Read more ...

Source: The Dallas Morning NewsEEOC
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award

Islamist group files suit against Tulsa store

A religious discrimination complaint has been filed on behalf of a Muslim teen who said she was denied employment at a Tulsa store because of her headscarf, the Council on American Islamic Relations Oklahoma chapter announced today.

Razi Hashmi, the council's Oklahoma chapter executive director, said the young woman applied for a job at the Abercrombie children's clothing store in Woodland Hills Mall and was told her Islamic headscarf, or hijab, "does not fit the company's image."

Hashmi said the council filed a complaint on the teen's behalf with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in mid-July, citing religious discrimination.

He said the council is asking the store to offer the applicant a formal apology. Hashmi said the organization also wants the store's policy on religious accommodation clarified. The group also is asking for Abercrombie employees to receive workplace sensitivity and diversity training. Read more ...

Source: The OklahomanCAIR
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