I got my mind right, Boss
A simple civil rights case? The involvement of CAIR should set off alarm bells. CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case. Its operatives have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several of its former officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror. Several of its other officials have made Islamic supremacist statements. CAIR also was involved in the Flying Imams’ intimidation suit against the passengers who reported their suspicious behavior.
Also, do all workers get special accommodation for prayer breaks, or just Muslim workers? That is the key question, but this article leaves it unanswered.
WalMart buckles to pressure and intimidation, gets its mind right: “Prayer dispute settled: Walmart rehires fired Muslim worker,” by Paul Walsh for the Star Tribune, July 21 (thanks to all who sent this in):
[…] The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced Monday that Walmart agreed to the accommodation after CAIR-MN intervened on behalf of employee Abdi Abdi, who was fired from his job in February as a stocker and loader at the Woodbury store.
CAIR-MN says that Abdi, a four-year employee with Walmart, was let go for violating a new supervisor’s ban on prayer during work breaks. A previous supervisor had allowed him to perform his daily prayers, the organization said.
Abdi was rehired last month at a Walmart in St. Paul and is now allowed to pray during breaks, following negotiations between CAIR-MN and local and national representatives of Walmart, the St. Paul-based rights group said.
“We appreciate Walmart’s handling of this case and its willingness to accommodate the religious practices of employees,” CAIR-MN Civil Rights Coordinator Zahra Aljabri said.
Abdi was rehired at the Walmart in the Midway area of St. Paul because it is closer to his home, his wife works there and managers at that store are “more familiar with the prayer schedule,” Aljabri said. “At least a dozen” Muslims work at the Midway Walmart, she said.
As part of the agreement, Walmart has agreed to send about 10 of their employees for diversity training next month that CAIR-MN is conducting, Aljabri said….
Aljabri noted that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Minnesota Human Rights Act protect the right of any employee with a bona fide religious belief to have accommodation in the workplace as long as that accommodation does not cause “undue hardship” for the employer.