Crystal Bayne
SOC-202
2/11/2011
2:37pm
Mehwish Ali is a native Canadian woman, who is a practicing Muslim. She shows her faith by wearing a hijab daily. She recently applied for a job in a salon in the Toronto area. She was hired to preform manicures, pedicures, facials, and waxing. She did however wear her hijab to the interview. Although she was hired even after the employer knowing her religious background, months later she confronted Ali. The co-owner of the the franchise told Ms. Ali that if she planned to stay then the hijab must go. "Her exact words were, 'we don't promote scarves here, we promote hair.' She said, 'before you start work today, get rid of that thing off your head.'" It is not known whether or not Ali agreed to these conditions, she just simply went home that night. The next morning Ali received an e-mail regarding her job, she was fired. The e-mail listed that she was let go because of "productivity, contribution and lack of initiative." However Ali disagrees and has filed a lawsuit against the company claiming religious intolerance was the reason she was terminated.
This article really struck me when I saw the headline. Mainly because when I search for different articles in this topic, they all seem very similar, someone files a law suit because of their hijab, or headscarf. However normally there are many details within the story. This one on the other hand is very vague. I believe that regardless of if a person wants to wear a cross, star of David, or wear a hijab, etc they should be allowed to. However I can kind of see where the owner was coming from. They are in the business of selling different hair styles. So naturally they would want their employees to sell that, maybe by showing different hairstyles on themselves. While I can understand where they are coming from I believe the situation should have been handled differently. Maybe a compromise? Ali could have had different nails and could have attracted more business that way. Regardless if the information presented is true it a real shame. It seems as if society makes two steps forward only to be knocked back three.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/02/10/Fired-scarf-wearing-Muslim-alleges-abuse/UPI-84431297347845/
1 comment:
I can understand the managers side because she works at a salon. But they shouldn't fire her over her hijab, especially if they never said anything about it when they hired her. As long as her work is good, it shouldn't be a problem what she wears.
But from business perspective I can see where that is a problem. if you were to go to a salon and get your hair done by someone who never has theirs done, or go to a tattoo parlor and get a tattoo by someone who has none, it might make you worry. but even if that is the case, if it was going to be an issue, the manager should have talked with her about it when he hired her.
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