Safoorah Khan’s Muslim discrimination lawsuit against the Berkeley School District ended in settlement. The school district will have to pay Khan $75,000 in lost back pay and will have to ensure that a similar teacher hajj lawsuit does not happen again.
In December 2008, Khan, a teacher at MacArthur Middle School, requested an unpaid leave of absence to go on her hajj pilgrimage, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. However, the school district denied her leave request and allegedly gave Khan the choice of her job, or her religion.
The hajj pilgrimage is required by Islam, and Muslims are required to make the trip to Mecca, Saudi Arabia at least once in their lifetimes at the earliest opportunity possible, reports the Sun-Times.
Khan felt the time was then, and choose her religion over her job, quitting her position. She later sued the district saying that it illegally forced her to make this difficult decision.
Generally, anti-discrimination laws require employers to not do things. For example, employers cannot pay women less and cannot fail to hire applicants because they are black.
However, anti-discrimination laws also require employers to take affirmative steps with religion and to basically treat employees differently. So, instead of not doing something, employers are required to provide religious accommodations to some employees, even if they are not applied to other employees. The employer need not accommodate the employee if it can show to do so would cause "undue hardship."
Khan argued that the Berkeley School District had to treat her differently and give her leave that other employees may not have been entitled to, due to her religious beliefs. The U.S. Department of Justice agreed and took on her case.
Instead of going to trial, the school district settled the teacher hajj lawsuit. For this instance of allged Muslim discrimination, the district agreed to pay Safoorah Khan $75,000 and to develop a policy accommodating religions and religious requests in the future.
Related Resources:
- Find a Chicago Employment Attorney (FindLaw)
- Teacher wins in fight against school (United Press International)
- Religious Discrimination (FindLaw)
- Chetrit Group Settles Religious Discrimination Claim (FindLaw)
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