Putting into practice the 1964 Civil Rights Act which Glenn Beck (and presumably his supporters) supports

Title VII of the Act gave the federal government the revolutionary power to force private employers to hire people whom the government said they must hire. Namely the Act declares that employers in making hiring decisions cannot discriminate on the basis of race, religion, and national origin. Thus if a clothing store chooses not to hire a saleswoman wearing a Muslim head covering, that is religious discrimination, and the federal government has the power to sue the store.

And we’re supposed to believe that Glenn Beck’s embrace of this unconstitutional, leftist law is part of a brilliant strategy by Beck to empower constitutionalist conservatism in America.

Who you gonna believe—Beck or your lying eyes?

Feds sue Abercrombie & Fitch over Muslim scarf
San Francisco Chronicle, September 1, 2010

(09-01) 17:51 PDT MILPITAS—A federal civil rights agency sued Abercrombie & Fitch on Wednesday on behalf of an 18-year-old woman who said she applied for her first job at the company’s store at the Great Mall in Milpitas and was turned down because she wore a Muslim head scarf.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission went to court against Abercrombie & Fitch last year over a similar incident in Tulsa, Okla. In Wednesday’s suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the agency again accused the Ohio company of discriminating on the basis of religion.

“This retailer that targets a youth market is sending the message that you cannot aspire to their ‘All American’ brand if you wear a head covering to comply with your faith,” said William Tamayo, the agency’s regional attorney.

Company representatives could not be reached for comment. In court filings in the Oklahoma case, which is pending, lawyers for Abercrombie & Fitch denied discriminating and said allowing the employee to wear a hijab, or head scarf, “would have created an undue hardship” for the company’s business.

Federal law requires employers to accommodate their workers’ religious practices unless they would cause an undue hardship. Abercrombie & Fitch’s employee dress code bans head coverings.

The federal agency said the Milpitas teenager, who was not identified, applied in March 2008 for a job stocking merchandise at the Abercrombie Kids store. She said she wore a colorful hijab that matched her outfit.

The manager asked her if she was Muslim, then marked “not Abercrombie look” on her interview form, the agency said.

“The interview crushed me, because I never imagined anyone in the Bay Area would reject me because of my head scarf,” the applicant said in a statement released by the civil rights agency. “They didn’t just miss out on a hard worker. They lost a customer.”

Posted by Lawrence Auster at September 02, 2010 12:42 AM | Send