Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers are prohibited from discriminating against an employee based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Even though hijab is one of the most recognizable practices of Islam, many Muslim women have been refused employment or have been fired for wearing hijab. In a recent case, a former employee of Storytellers Café at the California Adventure park, Imane Boudlal, was denied her request to wear hijab during working hours because of Disney’s employee uniform company policies. Since 2001, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed an increasing amount of employment discrimination charges against employers on behalf of Muslim women who have faced discrimination due to observing hijab.

To establish a valid Title VII claim of religious discrimination for wearing hijab:

(1) The employee must establish that her hijab conflicts with the employer’s requirement and must first inform the employer of the conflict before taking any legal action; then

(2) The employer must either offer the employee reasonable accommodation or establish that all accommodations options would cause “undue hardship” to the employer.

If you feel you have faced discrimination for wearing hijab at your job or when applying for a position, you can read more about your available options and contact information for the EEOC in the following Justice 360° bulletin: http://www.muslimcongress.org/360/EmpDisc.html

The author of this article can be reached via email at Justice360@muslimcongress.org. For more information about Justice360, visit http://www.muslimcongress.org/360.

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