| Alhamdulillah!
CAIR-LA’s Civil Rights department obtained a monetary settlement and policy change for a Muslim woman who was told to remove her hijab before being able to donate blood plasma at a local facility on April 22.The client complied with all of the requirements to donate blood. However, when she showed up for her appointment, she was asked by a staff member to remove her hijab for identification purposes.
The client made it clear that she cannot remove her hijab for religious purposes and reiterated that her identification picture has her in a hijab. The staff member got her manager, who also reiterated that the client had to take off her hijab before she could donate blood.
Feeling disrespected and discriminated against, the client left the facility and contacted CAIR-LA.
CAIR-LA was able to secure a monetary settlement for the client and the company has agreed to change its policies to ensure that their facilities across the country havepolicies in place that accommodate religious attire.
In a statement,CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloushsaid:
“We are grateful our client was able to reach a settlement andwe are just as pleased to see a much-needed change in policy. This is another clearcase of Islamophobia. It has no place in our society, particularly when our client was attempting to give blood to help others in need. There was absolutely no reason for her to take off her hijab. The manager and employee just couldn’t resist discriminating against a Muslim woman. We will continue to fightof these cases of xenophobiaand Islamophobia and these awful and obvious displays of bigotry.” |
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