Muslim civil liberties org calls for apology from Air France

by Libby Zay (RSS feed) on Jun 22nd 2011 at 3:30PM

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling on Air France for a formal apology after a Muslim passenger service agent at Washington Dulles International Airport allegedly fell victim to the fashion police and was told she could not wear her head scarf because of an Air France dress code.

After refusing to disregard her religions beliefs and practices by taking off her hijab, a head covering that hides hair and drapes over the neck, the woman was sent home. France enacted a controversial “burqua ban” in April that affected up two 2,000 women who wore head-to-toe veils in public.

“It is clear that a discriminatory dress code implemented in France would not superseded American laws protecting the religious rights of employees. Air France must follow American law and grant reasonable religious accommodations for its employees,” wrote CAIR Staff Attorney Gadeir Abbas in a letter to Patrick Roux, vice president and general manager of Air France, U.S. Operations.

Abbas maintains this case is symptomatic of the rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in American society, and points to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion.

It is unclear how long the woman worked for Air France before the incident took place.