Abercrombie headscarf case

[Jazzy]

The US Supreme Court grappled on Wednesday with the issue of whether the clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch discriminated against a Muslim teen when it refused to hire her because her headscarf clashed with the company’s strict dress code.

Abercrombie rejected an application from Samantha Elauf, then 17, after concluding that her black headscarf would violate the company’s policy prohibiting employees from wearing caps and from wearing black clothing.

During the job interview, an assistant manager did not ask Ms. Elauf about her headscarf, but assumed Elauf was Muslim. For her part, Elauf did not raise the issue of the headscarf and she never asked if Abercrombie might offer a religious accommodation.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued Abercrombie on Elauf’s behalf, charging religious discrimination. A federal judge ruled for the teen, but an appeals court panel sided with Abercrombie.

The appeals court said that Abercrombie could not be held liable for failing to provide a religious accommodation if the company had never been given explicit notice by the job applicant of a clash between workplace rules and a religious practice.

Source

Question: Who has the burden of raising the issue of a potential religious accommodation, the employer or the employee/job applicant?

 

[Sinon]

If you require special treatment, it falls to the applicant to bring it up. From the sounds of it, the company did not know her religion, which makes me assume that it isn't something on the application form.

Of course, a swift google tells me Muslim headwear has been allowed since 2013, so I feel like this is potentially just an angry kid trying to get revenge for not being hired. And since anything Islam is a hot-button right now, it's a sure-fire way of getting noticed.

 

[identityissues8]

It's the employers job to accommodate by law. Here at least.
They cannot reject an application on the basis of religion, or religious expression. It has to be down to professionalism, experience and work related skills alone.

 

[Webster]

Of course, a swift google tells me Muslim headwear has been allowed since 2013, so I feel like this is potentially just an angry kid trying to get revenge for not being hired. And since anything Islam is a hot-button right now, it's a sure-fire way of getting noticed.

...that, right there; given how politically correct society has become at times, this wouldn't surprise me in the least.

 

[identityissues8]

Of course, a swift google tells me Muslim headwear has been allowed since 2013, so I feel like this is potentially just an angry kid trying to get revenge for not being hired. And since anything Islam is a hot-button right now, it's a sure-fire way of getting noticed.

...that, right there; given how politically correct society has become at times, this wouldn't surprise me in the least.

It's generally people who have it the effortlessly easiest in society, that acre enough about political correctness to demean it or see it as a negative thing. I mean, of course you'd want political correctness to not even be a thing...How dare an emphasis be put on society to treat everyone the same!

"Equal rights are for suckers, when I was on the top of the food chain for who I am!"

Take your white privilege and go elsewhere. Because you have no idea what it's like to be a part of a minority group, maybe you need to walk a mile in someone else's shoes?

Pretty narcissistic if you ask me, Webster.