In a swift and victorious case, an employee of a public school district in Washington state was allowed to take three weeks off for Hajj, after CAIR-WA intervened.
The employee contacted CAIR-WA after verbally discussing vacation leave with his employer, who was not sympathetic or accommodating. .After contacting CAIR-WA and completing the intake process with Civil Rights Coordinator Jennifer Gist the employee was encouraged to submit a written request to his employer emphasizing the religious importance of Hajj.
Jennifer sent the employee a written request for Hajj, which the employee then sent to his employer. The employer’s response was again unsympathetic and stressed the fact that the employee was requesting leave during a particularly busy time and that given the employee’s role (he is bilingual in Somali and English), it would be very difficult to find an adequate substitute.
Jennifer worked with the employee’s union representative to get advice on how to address this issue most effectively, as there was a short timeline for the employee to be approved for vacation time and then make travel arrangements.
Following these conversations, Jennifer sent a letter to the legal counsel of the school district, outlining the various reasons the employee should be approved for an extended leave to perform Hajj. Among the reasons cited in the letter were the following: Hajj is a mandatory religious obligation for practicing Muslims; the employee had agreed to arrange for adequate substitutes during his absence; other employees had been granted extended leave for various reasons; and Somali families/students accustomed to working with this employee would be happy to know that the school district was accommodating his religious beliefs.
In her letter, Jennifer also cited the 2010 case in which the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against an Illinois school district that denied a teacher leave for Hajj, resulting in the teacher’s resignation (see the story here: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2010/1214/Muslim-school-teacher-denied-hajj-US-sues-Illinois-school-district).
Within days of sending the letter, the employee called CAIR-WA to inform us that he had been granted three weeks of vacation leave to perform Hajj!
This case serves as a good reminder of the religious accommodations that every employee is guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution; the obligation is on the employer to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs and obligation to the extent that it does not cause undue hardship on the employer. Common accommodations requested by Muslim employees including breaks for prayer, extended leave for Hajj, or alternative uniform/dress code, have been repeatedly shown to not cause undue hardship on an employer.
For assistance with religious accommodations or discrimination in the workplace, contact CAIR-Washington’s Civil Rights Coordinator at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 206.367.4081.
