A Muslim woman is suing a Virginia marketing company over alleged religious discrimination, reports NBC News.
Shahin Indorewala claims she lost a position in Fast Trak Management, Inc. after asking for prayer breaks throughout the work day. She said an assistant manager told her during an interview last September that the schedule included 90-minute lunch breaks.
“I said, ‘That’s kind of a long lunch break, but is it possible for me to take a shorter lunch break and instead take five minutes throughout the day to pray,'” said Indorewala.
She claims the manager denied her request, ended the meeting, walked her to a common area, and told Fast Trak CEO Ramses Gavilondo that Indorewala’s “hours don’t work for her.” The CEO then allegedly “pointed to my head scarf and he was making all sorts of hand movements and becoming very loud.”
“He was just like ‘Religion, we don’t want that here. We don’t want these religious shenanigans here,'” she explained.
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Indorewala said the situation, which allegedly took place in front of employees and other applicants, left her hurt and humiliated.
According to NBC Washington, Gavilondo claimed Indorewala “wanted to preach her religion.”
“We ask people to keep religion to themselves,” he said. “I don’t see the need for religious preaching in the 21st century.”
Indorewala rebutted that she was not preaching and simply wanted two five-minute breaks.
According to Patch, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed the lawsuit on her behalf.
“It’s important that all employers understand that the law makes very clear that they cannot discriminate against individuals on the basis of religion,” said CAIR staff attorney Zanah Ghalawanji. “Fast Trak really needs to understand that their behavior not only was unacceptable, it was illegal.”
Ghalawanji claimed the EEOC did not find evidence of discrimination when Indorewala filed her first complaint. Once Indorewala connected with CAIR, Ghalawanji said they reached out to Fast Trak to settle the issue but received no response. A second complaint was then filed, and the EEOC issued a right to sue, according to the Fairfax County Times.
“In regards to the discrimination, we employ all types of people all over the planet that believe in all different things,” explained Gavilondo. “We don’t really ever ask anyone what it is they do…We just come to work, and we do the best we can for society.”
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