The US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Muslim woman who sued after being denied a job at a clothing store because she showed up to the interview wearing hijab.
The clothing chain declined to hire Samantha Elauf in 2008 as a sales associate because her hijab violated the company’s “look policy,” which at the time prohibited employees from wearing head coverings. Elauf was never informed of the “look policy.” Elauf filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
On an 8-1 vote on Monday, the justices handed a victory to a federal agency that sued Abercrombie & Fitch on behalf of job applicant Samantha Elauf.
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal law enforcement agency that enforces laws against workplace discrimination, filed a complaint on behalf of Elauf against Abercrombie & Fitch, saying she is protected by the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Abercrombie & Fitch had argued that its store policy bans sales employees from wearing “caps” of any type, and that Elauf, then 17, should have made clear in her 2008 interview that she needed a religious accommodation.
Justice Antonin Scalia said in the court’s ruling Monday that Abercrombie “at least suspected” that Elauf wore a headscarf for religious reasons.
“That is enough,” Scalia said in an opinion for seven justices.
A jury eventually awarded Elauf $20,000, but the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado, threw out the award and concluded that Abercrombie & Fitch could not be held liable because Elauf never asked the company to relax its policy against headscarves.
The ruling was welcomed by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), which campaigns for the civil liberties of Muslim communities in the US.
“We welcome this historic ruling in defence of religious freedom at a time when the American Muslim community is facing increased levels of Islamophobia,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.
