Religion or Appearance | October 6 2010

To view a video introduction of today’s blog by Don, click on the link above.

A lawsuit filed against Abercrombie & Fitch in California by an 18-year-old girl seeks damages for alleged employment discrimination. The girl claims that she was denied employment because she is a Muslim and wore a religious head scarf.

I find this case quite interesting, because, although religious discrimination is something that is not acceptable in the workplace (or anyplace else for that matter), it seems to me that in this instance Abercrombie & Fitch probably could not care less about this girl’s religious beliefs but more likely was only concerned about the effect that having this employee in its store would have on its business. Perhaps many customers would be put off by the presence of a foreign-looking clerk in the store, a legitimate interest of the employer, but should this be a justification for denying the girl the job? Certainly the fact that some bigots would not patronize the store if there were black clerks there would not be a valid reason to deny blacks the opportunity have the job, but I think that we could all agree that the employer would be justified in requiring its employees to wear whatever the employer deemed to be appropriate dress. It is an interesting issue with no clear “right” answer.