Chipotle Sued After Supervisor Allegedly Ripped off an Worker`s Hijab at Kansas Location

A federal company has sued the restaurant chain Chipotle, accusing it of non secular harassment and retaliation after a supervisor at a Kansas location forcibly eliminated an worker`s hijab, a headband worn by some Muslim girls.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the Equal Employment Alternative Fee alleged that in 2021, an assistant supervisor at a Chipotle in Lenexa, Kansas, repeatedly harassed the worker by asking her to point out him her hair, regardless of her refusal. After a number of weeks, the harassment culminated in him grabbing and partially eradicating her hijab, based on the criticism.

The supervisor`s “offensive and relentless requests” that she take away her hijab, and his try to bodily take it off, had been “unwelcome, intentional, extreme, primarily based on faith, and created a hostile working surroundings primarily based on faith,” the criticism alleged.

Chipotle`s chief company affairs officer, Laurie Schalow, mentioned the corporate encourages staff to report considerations, together with by way of an nameless hotline.

“Now we have a zero tolerance coverage for discrimination of any sort and we have now terminated the worker in query,” she mentioned in an emailed assertion.

The harassment started in July 2021, when the supervisor started asking the worker, who was 19 on the time, to take away her hijab as a result of he needed to see her hair. In accordance with the criticism, he demanded to see her hair not less than 10 instances over the course of 1 month. She refused every time, saying she wore it due to her spiritual beliefs.

The worker complained to a different supervisor that the incidents made her uncomfortable, however no additional motion was taken in opposition to the supervisor, the criticism mentioned. One evening throughout closing in August 2021, the supervisor allegedly reached out and pulled her hijab partially off her head.

The next day, the worker gave her two weeks` discover. Chipotle didn`t schedule her for any shifts throughout these two weeks despite the fact that different non-Muslim staff who submitted their discover continued to be scheduled for work throughout that point, the criticism alleged.

The lawsuit claims that Chipotle violated federal civil rights regulation defending staff and job candidates from discrimination primarily based on faith, race, ethnicity, intercourse and nationwide origin.

In its swimsuit, the Equal Employment Alternative Fee mentioned it desires Chipotle to institute insurance policies that present equal employment alternatives for workers of all religions and pay damages to the worker.

Copyright 2023 Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials will not be printed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Subjects
Lawsuits
Kansas