This CNN article looks at a court case SCOTUS will hear tomorrow regarding a teenaged girl's religious freedom. 17-year-old Samantha Elauf applied for a job at Abercrombie & Fitch in 2008. After a successful interview, the assistant manager was ready to hire her. However, the district manager rejected her application.... because she wore a headscarf. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission took up Elauf's case, and sued Abercrombie. The store has publicly stated that it denied Elauf the job because employees are not allowed to wear headgear, as well as no heavy makeup, visible tattoos, or black clothing. However, Elauf argued, exceptions have been made in the past for employees who have asked to wear headgear. She believes that the discrimination is due to her Muslim faith; this discrimination in business is a "violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964."
I think it is shameful that Abercrombie & Fitch (or Abercrombie & Filth, as my mom calls it) would discriminate their employees on a religious basis. I understand not wearing hats when working the cash register; however, Elauf is not wearing her headscarf as a fashion statement, but rather as a sign of her Muslim faith. Abercrombie has had problems in the past, like when former CEO Mike Jeffries stated that the clothing store's customers should only be "good-looking people." But this discrimination against religion should be stopped. Hopefully the Supreme Court will rule in favor of Elauf so that religious liberty continues to be upheld in the United States.
I completely agree with Abbey. So long as it is a headscarf that lets the whole face be shown, I agree. If you can only see the eyes, it would become a problem as it is hard to relate to customers without them seeing your entire face. Also, it is supposed to be an expression of faith, not some "hip" new trend. Which, if it were, they should look into something "hip" since they haven't had a positive quarter in the past few years.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Abbey and Andrew. I don't think that Abercrombie & Fitch should have been able to deny this girl employment just because she wears a headscarf for her religion. Wearing a headscarf is quite different from wearing most other types of headgear especially since she would be wearing it for religious purposes.
ReplyDeleteWhat?! This is crazy to me, but I guess it's almost to be expected of Abercrombie & Filth (go Mrs. Hilt). Though it may be a rumor, I've heard that they even burn clothes they don't sell instead of donating them because they don't want underprivileged people to wear their label. That's wrong, just as discriminating against this girl because of her religion is wrong. I hope the court rules in favor of her, as she doesn't deserve that kind of unfair treatment.
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