• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

New Mexico: Muslim woman sues Planet Fitness for refusing to let her work out in headscarf

Mar 20, 2014 7:02 pm By Robert Spencer

Tarainia McDanielHere again, as in so many other cases, we see the principle reinforced: wherever Islamic law and practice conflict with American law and practice, it is the latter that must give way. Planet Fitness has a dress code. It says: “No jeans, work boots, bandanas, skull caps or revealing apparel.” Now they are being sued for daring to enforce it on a Muslim woman. Don’t these foolish Infidels know that their required posture before Muslims is one of submission and accommodation, no matter how much they have to change their business practices and policies?

“Muslim woman sues Planet Fitness gym for ‘refusing to let her work out because of her religious head scarf,'” from the Associated Press, March 20 (thanks to Darcy):

An Albuquerque Planet Fitness refused to let a New Mexico Muslim woman wear her religious head covering while she tried to work out, according to a new lawsuit.

Tarainia McDaniel, 37, recently filed the lawsuit in a New Mexico district court stemming from an October 2011 clash that prevented McDaniel from using the gym, even though court documents said another Planet Fitness had previously let her, the Albuquerque Journal reports.

McDaniel joined New Hampshire-based gym chain Planet Fitness in Albuquerque on a two-year contract and later transferred to another gym location. But the lawsuit said she was turned away at her new gym and was told the head covering didn’t meet its dress code.

McDaniel said she even offered to wear a hijab, the formal head covering.

Planet Fitness attorney Erika Anderson said the head covering violates the gym’s dress code policy. ‘My client’s position is that they didn’t know the head covering was for religious purposes,’ Anderson said.

Anderson said she could not comment further on pending litigation.

McDaniel’s civil lawsuit, filed under the New Mexico Human Rights Act and the Unfair Practices Act, alleges the Planet Fitness illegally based the decision to deny her access upon her religion, or alternatively upon her race — she is African American — and that the gym had no legitimate or non-pretextual reason to deny her entry.

Planet Fitness, in its formal answer to the claims, denies violations of either the Human Rights Act or Unfair Practices Act. It says McDaniel failed to participate in good faith and that the company has legitimate business reasons for its practice as well as measures to prevent discrimination.

According to McDaniel’s deposition, she said the Quran ‘is pretty specific on covering your hair’ and dressing modestly in clothes that fit loosely.

In the deposition, Anderson asked if McDaniel recalled a sign posted at Planet Fitness that said ‘no jeans, work boots, bandanas, skull caps or revealing apparel.’

According to the transcript, McDaniel acknowledged seeing the sign, but added, ‘I already (had) made it known before I signed the contract that I covered my hair. I had on (what) I call a head covering. I guess for the sake of the record, they’re referring to it as a head covering.’

When Anderson asked if she told them she was Muslim, McDaniel replied, ‘I sure did.’

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Islamic supremacism Tagged With: featured


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Comments

  1. Brian says

    Mar 20, 2014 at 7:04 pm

    You’ve got to be kidding me.

    If she doesn’t want to follow the rules, she should buy a home gym!

  2. Diane Harvey says

    Mar 20, 2014 at 7:21 pm

    As Roberts points out, all these incidents are aimed to put us in our place, our inferior place. Muslims intend to rule us, whether we like it or not.

    Safety rules, they’re for suckers.

    http://www.torontosun.com/2014/01/30/woman-dies-after-scarf-hair-get-tangled-in-montreal-escalator

    Fight back, Planet Fitness.

  3. Veracious_one says

    Mar 20, 2014 at 7:27 pm

    another Muslim pushing the “get Infidel money” button….

    • EYESOPEN says

      Mar 22, 2014 at 2:19 am

      Exactly!!!

  4. Islamisdeath says

    Mar 20, 2014 at 7:34 pm

    Fat ugly headbag wearin woman makin big wid de lawfare against the infidel!

  5. Champ ✿ says

    Mar 20, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    Oh please …and judging by her appearance she isn’t very serious about getting into shape; if she were, then she would follow the *rules* like everyone else.

    • leonore says

      Mar 21, 2014 at 12:43 pm

      Excuse me. Are you saying that fat people should not go to the gym? They are the ones who most need to go there! I see plenty of out of shape men and women in my gym. One has to start somehwere.
      I do not support her as I think anybody man or woman (it is usually men) looks like a dork with a hat on in the gym. Also we lose more than 80% of our body heat through the scalp.

  6. Tradewinds says

    Mar 20, 2014 at 7:50 pm

    It’s an outrage I tell you an outrage!

    Lady – get over yourself. Nobody cares.

  7. Wellington says

    Mar 20, 2014 at 7:50 pm

    This demonstrates in microcosm (yet again) one of the many problems with Islam, i.e., it never acknowledges wrongdoing, it is never gracious, it expects others to conform to it and not the other way around. Rather it demands—and demands—and demands, and always is in victim mode, actually quite petulantly like a spoiled child.

    As an aside, I have to wonder if this particular black woman even remotely comprehends that Islam’s record in the lucrative trade of black slavery over many centuries easily eclipses that of the Judeo-Christian world, and with no apology for such, contra the Judeo-Christian world. Not likely to say the least. Actually a certainty.

    Disgusting religion is Islam. Founded by a psychopath. An enemy of freedom. The turd in the religious punch bowl. Damn shame it ever slipped through the cracks of history. Plagues mankind to this day. Making it all the worse are the Western elites of our era who continue to defend this wretched faith. Fluid times to be sure. Outcome still uncertain.

    • Salah says

      Mar 21, 2014 at 12:06 pm

      Wellington, you might want to read this:

      “The more substantial comment above by Wellington. This person comments a lot on Jihadwatch…”

      • Henry says

        Mar 21, 2014 at 1:38 pm

        Tell Wellington I’m jealous, I’ll just have to try harder to irk the ire of the Islamofascists.

    • bill says

      Mar 21, 2014 at 12:54 pm

      I agree hearily with the first paragraph of your coment. In fact I have saved it.
      However it is not one of the main problems it is the fundamental problem. They are so dogmatic in their beliefs and bigotry, yet always claiming victimhood. Not that they are any different to the religious fundamentalists in other faiths, except Christians do not usually claim the sanction of ‘god’ to kill anybody who speaks against them, in the present day at least.

  8. RCCA says

    Mar 20, 2014 at 7:58 pm

    How does the religious Muslima rationalize working out in a gym where men and women share the same facility? Oh, you mean she picks and chooses whatever rules she wants to follow?

    • EYESOPEN says

      Mar 22, 2014 at 2:22 am

      Good point!

  9. InMAGICn says

    Mar 20, 2014 at 8:02 pm

    Wellington:

    Had dinner with a very high-level Iraqi doctor in the mid-seventies during a layover in Rome. I found out he had just flown in from Morocco where he had bought a young woman for his household. He did not use the word’slave” but otherwise he had no hesitation about talking about it.

    • gravenimage says

      Mar 25, 2014 at 12:32 pm

      *Very* disturbing…

  10. Gavin Williamson says

    Mar 20, 2014 at 8:41 pm

    Did she sign some documents when joining this gym?

    Whenever Ive joined a new gym Ive had to sign a form saying I accept thier conditions.

    What gives?

    • Tradewinds says

      Mar 20, 2014 at 9:03 pm

      What gives? She’s a Muslim! She gets preferential treatment! She and her head rag come first before anyone else! Sheesh. Islam is such a joke.

  11. No Fear says

    Mar 20, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    Would she also sue a factory that prevents her , for safety reasons, from operating a large spinning paint stirring machine?

    The reason for such restrictions on loose and free flowing hair and clothing near equipment is SAFETY!

    There was a muslim woman killed when her scarf got caught in a go kart in Australia.
    The scarf prevented her from being a sex object to muslim men, but the scarf got caught by the go kart wheels and killed her. Sharia was useless in that case.

    Sued if you do stop them and sued if you don’t stop them.

    • gravenimage says

      Mar 25, 2014 at 1:27 pm

      No Fear wrote:

      Would she also sue a factory that prevents her , for safety reasons, from operating a large spinning paint stirring machine?
      …………………………..

      This sort of thing has already begun, No Fear—Muslimahs sued a UPS distribution center in Tennessee because supervisors cited Hijabs and floor-length robes as a safety hazard, particularly since they had to scale tall ladders all day.

      The Muslims quite, then sued. I believe they received a settlement.

      Muslims have also brought suit against fire departments over “Islamophobia” regarding beards being banned—even though beards are a safety hazard when using oxygen masks.

      It never ends…

  12. Audrey Russo says

    Mar 20, 2014 at 10:31 pm

    Honestly…she doesn’t look like she’s worked out a day in her life and has probably used the schmatta as an excuse every time!!

  13. SKevin says

    Mar 20, 2014 at 10:31 pm

    Planet Fitness does not allow Sikh men to cover their heads. There are a few civil suits pending, but nothing has been settled.

  14. Kyra Nelson says

    Mar 21, 2014 at 12:14 am

    Why can’t someone cover their head or hair for whatever damn reason they want to, as long as it isn’t a safety issue? There are many, many styles of tightly wrapped scarves, snoods, baseball caps, and hats. Maybe someone has alopecia, trichotillamania, or cancer-induced hair loss……just sayin.

    • VampireJack says

      Mar 21, 2014 at 4:08 am

      The reason that head coverings are banned in many gyms (not just religious head coverings – but as stated, bandanas) is due to safety.
      There is a risk that they could get tangled in the heavy weight machines and cause strangulations and other horrific accidents.

      It’s not about islamophobia.
      It’s about not getting sued.

  15. Salah says

    Mar 21, 2014 at 12:20 am

    “..wherever Islamic law and practice conflict with American law and practice, it is the latter that must give way.”

    Why? because we don’t fight back.
    It’s not enough to fight back on the internet, we have to take the fight to the streets, by the millions…peaceably, and determined to end this islamic farce once and for all.

    http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-end-of-muslim-brotherhood.html

  16. mortimer says

    Mar 21, 2014 at 2:25 am

    The principle of ‘darura’ means Muslims can do whatever they want and say it was ‘necessity’.

    A dress code is a dress code. Eventually, no one will have any sympathy left for Muslims, if they keep complaining. Anyway, they should not ‘play’ with dirty kafirs, but with Muslims only.

    • Tradewinds says

      Mar 21, 2014 at 8:09 am

      Eventually?! No one has any sympathy for them now! They have truly over-played their victim card.

  17. posse 101 says

    Mar 21, 2014 at 3:10 am

    yet another low information Black who has converted to the religion that has enslaved and killed more Blacks than any other movement the world has ever seen.

  18. Jerry says

    Mar 21, 2014 at 6:14 am

    Don’t be surprised if, next time, some Jihaddist sympathiser female would sue a nudist club because she is not allowed to attend in her niqab.

    • Champ ✿ says

      Mar 21, 2014 at 12:54 pm

      LOL!!!!! good one 😀

  19. Abdul says

    Mar 21, 2014 at 6:43 am

    This is one fat ugly sucker. I wish she was covered not only by a scarf but by full body garbage bag.

  20. Dubi says

    Mar 21, 2014 at 9:37 am

    She should go live in Minneapolis!

    Hoping Muslim crocodile devours her last, dopey Lesbian police chief wears a hijab

    March 20, 2014 Coach Collins 3 Comments

    by Kevin “Coach” Collins

    Winston Churchill once said, “An appeaser is one who feeds the crocodile hoping it will eat him last.” He was talking about the Nazis but he very well could have been referring to today’s Muslims.

    According to a recent Facebook post, a Somali Muslim Minneapolis City Hall worker declared last February 28th “Hijab Day” at the town’s City Hall because he or she wanted to. Thereafter the Muslim worker got the city’s police chief and equally foolish female city council members, Elizabeth Glidden and Lisa Bender, to wear hijabs to work.

    The idea of a lesbian police chief wearing the prescribed garb of a subservient is startling for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that homosexuals are regularly tortured and murdered by Muslim men to “cleanse the world” of their very existence. The hijab is a veil that covers the head and chest area of Muslim females who have reached puberty, when they are in the presence of adult males. A hijab can also be full body covering worn to emphasize modesty among Muslim women. If hijabs are meant to cover a Muslim woman’s body from the gaze of men what place does a hijab in the life of a lesbian who claims to be “married” to another woman as the police chief does?

    How can a Muslim inviting a non-Muslim lesbian to wear a hijab be anything than a cruel joke at the expense of a fool? Does this dope not understand the world? If not why is she running the police department of a large American city?

    It apparently doesn’t occur to Police Chief Janee Harteau and Council members Glidden and Bender that they are helping to embolden people who would slaughter them and their families.

    Somali Muslims have wormed their way into the fabric of Minneapolis and won’t stop until they run the city. They already hold one of the thirteen City Council seats of the city. Given the failed “leadership” and appeasement policies of these three idiots, trouble is coming to Minneapolis.

    Source:

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/minneapolis-lesbian-police-chief-dons-hijab-for-hijab-day/

  21. Phucislam says

    Mar 21, 2014 at 10:35 am

    As a muslim women what is she doing outside of the house without her male guardian? In islam it is haram (forbidden) for a women to be away from the house with out male escort.

  22. Dire a says

    Mar 21, 2014 at 11:25 am

    Oh well, if you’re a Muslim, that explains everything. Regular kafirs have to follow the rules but not MUSLIMS!

  23. duh_swami says

    Mar 21, 2014 at 11:27 am

    Hmm. I guess Muslimah’s who insist on niqab, and or veil, cannot become firefighters. Probably not many have firefighting ambitions, but any that do might as well forget it. Firefighters wear helmets, smoke masks and rubber suits.
    I doubt a lawsuit would help them much in that case.

  24. Marbran says

    Mar 21, 2014 at 12:30 pm

    I get the feeling this woman switched gyms because the 1st one allowed her to wear the scarf, meaning she had no law suit then. So she shopped around until she found a PF that actually enforced the rules. I also bet she’s a single mother, on some sort of tax payer subsidy, and that her Koran at home is quite dusty.

    • somehistory says

      Mar 21, 2014 at 2:02 pm

      That is my thought too. Why else would she decide to switch? Why not switch back when she saw there was enforcement of the policy at the *new* place? And why would she be willing to go against the other restrictions the koran has on her gender such as by associating freely with men, going out alone? And, did she not say that she is supposed to wear *loose* clothing? The sweater in the photograph does not seem to be very loose.
      Law suits are one of the ways they choose to pressure companies into conforming. If the company already *conforms* by allowing such, there is no money to be made and no pressure is applied that would cause other companies to see the lay of the land and make allowances before they are confronted with the threats.
      And she said *she even offered to wear a hijab* according to the account. How would that help? Calling a head covering by another name is like calling a rose by another name. It’s still a head covering.
      Cause trouble and then sue to get money. Isn’t that jihad?

  25. PRCS says

    Mar 21, 2014 at 11:04 pm

    “My client’s position is that they (the fitness center personnel) didn’t know the head covering was for religious purposes”

    1. If they did know, for what good reason would they waive the rules for a POTENTIAL member’s religious beliefs?

    2. As the woman claims to have told them it was her religious belief to wear a head covering, why didn’t they (a) tell her right then and there that the rules would not be waived to accommodate that belief and (b) refuse her application if she would not commit to follow them–prior to signing the contract?

    Is the woman lying? Were the PFC personnel too cowed or intimidated by to “just say no” to her application?

    Something doesn’t jibe.

    And, BTW, as I didn’t notice anything in the article stating “safety” concerns as the reason for the dress code’s rules, what is the intent?

  26. gravenimage says

    Mar 25, 2014 at 12:29 pm

    New Mexico: Muslim woman sues Planet Fitness for refusing to let her work out in headscarf
    …………………………….

    This is about safety—nothing else. I have waist-length hair—years ago I was asked (nicely) at two different gyms to tie my hair back. I just do it as a matter of course these days.

    Remember the Muslimah who died at an amusement park because her headscarf caught in the machinery of a ride? There are simply places where wearing *any* kind of loose clothing is unsafe.

    The idea that this has anything to do with “Islamophobia” is something only litigious Muslims would push.

    And further—this is not just about suing the Kuffar; it is about imposing Shari’ah norms.

  27. tahmineh says

    Mar 29, 2014 at 12:00 pm

    Well if it’s a religious exemption they want, give it to them. Make them sign waivers that by choosing religious “regulations” (head wear, facial hair, abayas, etc) over legitimate safety regulations, that the believer accepts any and all responsibility for accidents and consequences caused by their choices in dress. Want to abuse our “freedom of religion”? Fine. Then all employers including the military, gyms, sports teams, etc should accommodate religious wear ONLY with the following conditions (feel free to add to this list):

    1. That the believer be financially responsible for any damage their dress causes to equipment.

    2. That the believer accept all responsibility for harm to themselves caused by their dress including death. Financial damages must be paid by the believer to the company for the damages they suffer by having to clean up bodies, and to pay other patrons/employees for trauma by being exposed to such situations.

    3. That the believer be financially responsible for any and all harm caused to others by their dress, physical and psychological.

    Let’s see how many people would sign a waiver like this. Safety regulations should NEVER be trumped by idiotic beliefs, but if the believers are stupid enough to risk their lives for the bits and pieces of their faith that they chose to follow, let them. Let the responsibility for their choices be upon them. Allah will not save them.

    We need to take back our country and our legal system!!!

  28. Brutha V says

    Apr 23, 2014 at 7:24 am

    Most missed the collateral issue: which is even these Muslims know to throw out the race card and claim every “restriction” on them is discriminatory. It never ends, and is tantamount to the boy crying wolf.

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • gravenimage on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • Shaman on Iranian Kurdistan: Muslim brothers behead their sister in honor killing over her romantic relationship
  • gravenimage on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • gravenimage on Chief Rabbi of UK Says It’s ‘Alarming’ That 44% of Muslims Are Anti-Semitic
  • Boycott Turkey on Iranian Kurdistan: Muslim brothers behead their sister in honor killing over her romantic relationship

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.