DENVER (AP) — A big U.S. meatpacker has agreed to pay $1.5 million to 138 Somali-American Muslim workers who were fired from their jobs at a Colorado plant after they were refused prayer breaks, a federal anti-discrimination agency said Friday.
Every reasonable effort was made to accommodate these workers, but with a 24-hour round-the-clock schedule, a processing plant cannot continue efficiently if dozens of its workers suddenly disappear for a prayer break, or two, or three, each workday. They were “fired from their jobs” precisely because they refused to do their jobs, unless and until their prayer breaks were permitted.
Cargill Meat Solutions, a division of Minnesota-based agribusiness company Cargill Corp., also agreed to train managers and hourly workers in accommodating Muslim employees’ prayer breaks at its Fort Morgan beef processing plant, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said.
Wichita, Kansas-based Cargill denies wrongdoing but agreed to settle to avoid further litigation, the federal agency said. The dispute dates back to the firings of the workers in late 2016 after management rescinded policies allowing Muslim employees to take short breaks for prayer.
Why did Cargill rescind its initial policy of allowing Muslim employees to take “short breaks” for prayer? It was not a sudden display of bigotry. Rather, Cargill’s managers learned from experience that those “short breaks” for prayers took, on average, between five and eight minutes for saying the prayer, depending on the suras that the individual Muslim chose to recite. In addition, time was spent — how much time? — getting to and from the place where the prayers were recited. Would two minutes going to, and two minutes coming from, the place of prayer in the giant Cargill plant, be about right? A total of ten minutes, then, would be a low average for each prayer. That is one thing that might have caused management to rescind its policy. It might earlier have been relying on the employees assuring Cargill that “these are very short prayers, they will take no time at all,” only to discover differently.
A second consideration for Cargill was the effect of those prayer breaks on the smooth functioning of the line of meat to be processed. Perhaps these prayers turned out to be a much greater disruption of the meat processing than Cargill had initially assumed. Cargill’s change in policy about prayer at work, if it was — as it certainly seems to have been — prompted only by a concern for the smooth operation of the business, should have been allowed given how long, and how frequent, those prayers were.
Consider, too, not just the effect on the workings of the processing plant if Muslim workers were allowed to leave their places on the line, and disappear for 8-10 minutes. What happens to the line that is supposed o be in constant movement? Does it slow down, or is it shut down, until the Muslim workers return? How is this handled? And what is the effect on the other, non-Muslim workers whose activities are disrupted? And it’s not just the disruption in the processing line. There is also the harm done to company morale if the non-Muslim employees, who are not given time off for prayers, begin to resent what they see as privileging the Muslims, three times a day, over all other workers. This would likely not have been understood at first by the Cargill managers. But eventually they would realize that a three-times-a-day prayer break for Muslims unsurprisingly caused resentment among non-Muslim workers. This resentment of one group of employees by another group is not good for productivity.
In 2017, the agency found that the workers had been harassed and discriminated against for protesting the unannounced policy change that denied them opportunities for obligatory prayer. Hundreds of Somali-Americans work at the plant in Fort Morgan, northeast of Denver….
Like other U.S. firms that employ Muslim line workers at meatpacking and processing plants, Cargill managers must balance religious accommodations with demands of processing meat in an operation that frequently runs 24 hours. Managing possible disruptions not only slow production but can create safety issues for line workers.
This paragraph is certainly key, for it describes the need to balance religious accommodations with the demands of the business. The right to pray at work is not absolute. The question is: what is the nature of those disruptions to the business? How long do they last? How many of them are there? And what is the ability, if any, of the employer to cope with a slowing of the production line? It is most unlikely that with so many workers going on prayer break that the meat processing line could continue to move at the same speed as before. Furthermore, not only is each break about 8-10 minutes long (5-8 minutes for the prayer, 4 minutes for getting to, and returning from, the prayer space), but the Muslim workers will take such a break three times during an average workday, assuming they arrive after sunrise and leave work before sunset. Finally, we would want to know how serious are the “safety issues” created by workers leaving the processing line, and returning to it three times a day.
“Providing our employees with religious accommodation is an important part of engaging and supporting our employees, and our policy has remained consistent for more than 10 years,” Cargill Meat Solutions president Brian Sikes said in a statement.
Notice that in its settlement, Cargill did not admit of any wrongdoing. That is, it felt that it had made a sufficient case for the business need to keep the line running smoothly, and believed that it had proven that the disruption resulting from these prayer breaks was sufficiently extensive, given how meat processing plants work, to justify Cargill’s decision to not permit them. Cargill settled out of court because it estimated that the cost of dragged-out litigation would be too high, with no assurance the company would win.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group, and Qusair Mohamedbhai, a Denver attorney who represented the workers praised the settlement.
Well, of course they did. Today Cargill, tomorrow the world.
StellaSaidSo says
1.5 million good reasons to not employ Muslims.
StellaSaidSo says
This is all a massive ‘con’. In Islamic countries, the line doesn’t stop for prayers. Can you imagine what would happen at Dubai airport, for example, if every employee downed tools 5 times a day? We are being played for mugs.
CAIR calls it LAWFARE. It is designed to plunder our coffers, and make us sharia-compliant.
b.a. freeman says
well put, Stella!
gravenimage says
This is true, Stella. Muslims do *not* do this in Dar-al-Islam.
Lawrence Kaplan says
We have seen riots when a Koran is – in the eyes of the jihadists – desecrated burned, that is, by a non-believer – that is an American. And yet each year in Saudi Arabia du,ring the Mecca pilgrimages the Saudis confiscate approximately 200,000 Korans and burn them. Their confiscation stems from the Sharia tenants that the Saudis disapprove of..
Not a riot, not a peep.
Del says
They stop loading planes, drop their rugs on the tarmac and pray. Screw departure times or costs. The ones inside the cargo hold also pray inside and the conveyor belts load up. Stopping to pray is one of the reasons there is no such thing as an advanced Muslim country. Everything they have is acquired form democratic humans.
Alain says
Correct. Having lived and worked in a Muslim country along with visiting many others, this crap only happens in the West. We are fools for falling for it.
Simon says
And if you refuse to employ them…..’racism’!
Prayer breaks are not permitted in timing critical jobs in Muslim countries ffs……so why cave in here….
Martin says
“1.5 million good reasons to not employ Muslims.”
Yes is it. Muslims in America never dreamed of making this prayer demand on their employers until their numbers started getting big enough. Now that they’ve tasted victory, and as their numbers continue to grow, their demands will never end.
Savvy Kafir says
True that.
Pat Condell posted a great video a while back about the hassles & headaches that often go with the hiring of Muslims.
An additional reason for not hiring them — if they can’t get work (or welfare handouts), maybe they’ll go back to the Islamic hell-hole nation they came from.
Clive Stephen Delmonte says
Absolutely true.
Indiana Tom says
So the cheap Muslim labor was not so cheap after all?
Really have a tough time feeling too sorry for Cargill.
I have read that some companies 4 wall their plants with cheap Somali labor and do not even hire or discourage hiring Americans. Americans are last on the pecking order. Stealth Jihad book?
boakai ngombu says
the assembly line … is that not a fixture of capitalist endeavor?
the supremacists might tolerate the line for a time only to intentionally gum up the works and cause failure of the system, because SHARIA (enslavement tool) will not allow them to get with the system
gravenimage says
Yes–cheap Muslim labor–even when Muslims actually work–is not cheap at all.
Indiana Tom says
I have read that in Muslim countries that employers who are Muslim do not put up with this special Muslim crap and forces everyone to work regardless.
Mary says
Do they have this type of problem at pork processing plants?
Vern says
That is “Hilarious”, Mary….I love your wit and humor….I’ll bet they have to hire illegal Hispanics for them…
They are predominately Catholic, but then, what would they do on Friday’s, pack fish?…..Just kidding….Thanks for the laugh.
Vern
Geoffrey Britain says
Put them on the night shift. Problem solved. Accommodation provided.
If that’s not enough for them, start processing pork with signed terms of employment requiring it.
Terry Gain says
The better solution is not to hire them. The best way of defeating the attempted conquest is to refuse entry.
PRCS says
As they’ve already entered…
Savvy Kafir says
It’s time to send them back to Somalia. That’s the only real solution.
Terry Gain says
Savvy Kaffir
Once they set foot on American soil, Muslims are entitled to the protection of the Constitution. They can’t be sent back unless they break the law. But their power and influence can be curtailed if Muslim immigration is ended.
Mac-101 says
My reading comprehension is NOT good. So does Cargill have to rehire them also? Must they hire new Muslims employees and provide the prayer breaks? Or did they pay the money and will NOT allow any prayer breaks for any religious purposes?
Joe says
Since they settled, I would suppose that Cargill’s firing is permanent, and this was separation money. Prayer breaks would be history. But, I wondered the same thing, and I’m speculating that this was the outcome. As I see it, Cargill made a mistake, and then corrected it, but it cost them some.
Mac-101 says
That would be the logical course of action. If so, the 1.5 million is peanuts to eliminate ALL religious accommodations for ALL people. However we do NOT live in a logical world!
WPM says
Cargill must have look at the numbers better to pay out 1.5 million one time keep the Islamic holy rollers off the process line get rid of pray breaks. Future people hired will most likely sign a contract that has stated break times and lengths of break times for everyone . I work in a printing shop printing junk mail on what is called a web prints when I was 20 to 25 years old. They ran the press 24 hours a day 7 days a week for months on end. Time was money if the press shut down to change a plate , or the paper jammed it had to noted on the time sheet the head pressmen who ran the crew there ,if the time down got out of line his job was on the line. People where not allowed to just walk off any time they felt like it .Everyone had a job to do to keep it running ,I would guess a meat plant would run in a similar fashion ,but Islamics have little pride or though in keeping the line going without their cut of lawfare money. The union could get involved{if they had a union} because they are interested in longer and more break times for all employees. From the article it is unclear how much Cargill tolerated “pray breaks” in the past maybe the Moslems used them little in the past increasing them over time in how often they “disappeared” from the line and how often they felt the “need” to go.
Logic&Reason says
Another victimization pay-out. Isn’t there a stipulation in Islam that allows Muslims to “catch-up” on unavoidable missed prayers?
Gotta stop rolling over to these “religious” demands. Try demanding such Christian rights in Islamic theocracies…a “settlement” also praised by CAIR, ISNA, et al….
With that money, these Somali Muslims can start-up their own meatpacking facility and take all the breaks they need. Oh yeah….that would take a business plan and a work ethic…
Take, take, take….
gravenimage says
+1
KWJ says
Yes. I’ve read the fatwas; if you’re in a rush and can’t wash in time it’s better to pray than not at all, if you can’t pray at a certain time especially because of work, you can make it up.
I don’t think religious accommodations should be done at all at businesses. You have the right to practice your religion on your own time and not inflict it on others, ditto for vaccines. It isn’t like a disability (or is it?) Besides, then others should be able to go pray too.
A waitressing job is an example of a job that people don’t get breaks and you can’t have people disappearing for 10 minutes nor does a company have to provide a “prayer space.”
In my lifetime there’s never been this kind of immigrant group. It’s no wonder the Islamic world is least productive.
Lynn says
The time estimates in the article did not account for time spent in ritual washing in preparation for the prayers. Was the employer forced to supply foot washing basins or other accommodations in addition to the time the employees actual spent in prayer?
Mac-101 says
Good point, more like 20 minutes break at a minimum. I don’t believe there are any required prayers between the end of dusk and the beginning of dawn. Put em ALL on the night shift!
boakai ngombu says
other accommodations … a room or rooms for be used only for prayer… big bucks … sometimes there are lunchroom problems should the plant employ females >> setapart eating facilities
kosher butchering practices often “can’t” be observed; must be separate
also … some meat packers employ chaplains … muslims (slaves) need their imam – on staff
all the real dirty work – like cleaning and rendering – is dhimmi work, so no night shift
and don’t forget benefits
Mahendra Singh says
Right.
The breakdown for Namaz prep time is as follows:
1 Walk to the designated namaaz spot 5 minutes
2 Washing hands, feet, face, ears, and genital: 5 minutes minimum.
3 Finding their namaz carpet, spreading it
and standing in line. 3 minutes
4 I do not know exactly how many cycles of the stand-sit-prostrate
are necessary in the midday namaaz, but the time taken is at least 10 minutes
5 Invocations 2 minutes.
6 Wearing back the work clothes. 5 mintes
7 Walk back to their post 2 minutes
Total 32 minutes.
If they chant “death to America, or Death to Israel, add 10 minutes.
I think Cargill got of easy. In future exclude Somalis from the work
force. Let them drive taxis instead.
Japetto Danatelli says
So here’s another bad precedent in favor of muslims. Had it been some Christians or Jews it most likely wouldn’t have gone to court in the first place, those religions have already been demoted to insignificant subservient status for islam by the establishment. This pandering injustice only opens the door to more legal intimidation by muslims over-and-above the rights of non-muslims and the companies who employ them. The vast majority non-muslims wouldn’t be this impudent by making such demands on their employers, they understand that religion should be a personal choice not a terrorizing imposition. But it’s different for muslims, their god allah has decreed that even murder and slavery is preferable to equal treatment for us “infidels,” and considering the large number of dead and suffering for islam we can have little doubt about their conviction in fulfilling those murderous mandates. This is the religion that Cargill and other companies are expected to accommodate and that we must sacrifice our freedoms and safety for, even though it contains explicit threats of murder and conquest against unbelievers and is the ideological force behind countless homicides, terror attacks, and wars. For a good religion these special accommodations can be troubling enough, for a bad one that dotes on murder and bigotry it’s insufferable. In this particular case the employer Cargill said they did in fact provide prayer breaks and that the firing was because they didn’t attend work for 3 consecutive days; but ya know, in this day-and-age the truth doesn’t matter when it comes to muslims or islam. Islam is built on lies, the left shills with lies, and we know factually that an inordinate number of accusations by muslims are proven lies; but never mind, if we don’t crawl low enough or smile big enough for their aggressive religious proclivities then the left will cheerfully wipe the bigoted snot off their intolerant little noses while condemning us as racist bigot islamophobes. It’s a nauseating state of affairs that is fragmenting western culture, killing our people, and is sucking the democratic vitality right out of our veins.
This lawsuit is not a victory for religious liberty as some might claim, instead it’s a victory for islamic supremacy over the rights of everyone else. The more muslims we let into our nation(s) the more empowered they’ll become in advancing islam above the liberties and safety of everyone else, and our leftist media and politicians are going to help them every step of the way. Our culture, our laws, our freedoms, our security, and the very survival of our nation depends on what we do today in response to the islamic threat. It is not a difficult forecast to see, the storm clouds over Europe and Britain are raining bloody discord and terror and we are very dumb animals if we can’t see them headed our way.
Vote. Vote. Vote, midterm.
We need to get the right folks in office that are concerned about unbridled immigration and who care America’s freedoms and understand the islamic threat. If we don’t vote then we have no right to complain when islam and the left robs us of the best things in life. We’ll have no one to blame but ourselves when our entire lives are structured around the ambitions of a religion that considers murder and slavery more virtuous than our right to be free and choose our own religion. True love of god does not embrace murder and terror for religion, it defends against it as the greatest good for both god and humanity, this should be axiomatic for even the worst student of morality.
ploome says
regarding:
“In addition, time was spent — how much time? — getting to and from the place where the prayers were recited.”
don’t forget they have to wash their feet….need separate feet washing facilities, and if they fart, they have to repeat the washing all over..
it is a scam-just to force us to submit to their sharia..
Terry Gain says
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a scam or not. It is inconsistent with secularism. Expecting Muslims not to behave like Muslims is insane.
Dan says
I’ve got a cousin who’s tinsmith, and has had to work with Muslim apprentices.
One of those hyperactive/needs about 20 different ADHD meds per day, he gets about 50% more work done than anybody else, so he’s “in demand.”
Then the companies started pawning off Muslim immigrants as apprentices, many from some kind of Trudeau government sponsorship program, and his production went down to almost half.
So he’s called on the carpet.
And he LOSES IT.
Mainly about how when they’re up on some tower somewhere, and his two morons spend 20 minutes climbing down to get to the prayer room, how many minutes praying, and then two minutes climbing back up.
And it’s not exactly like they ambitious, so they aren’t hustling.
Plus, when it’s WINTER, they stay in the prayer room until they bloody well feel like getting back to work.
Add in a bunch of *&^% and @#$$%* and $%^* to his language and you’ll get the gist, and he said “THAT’S WHY MY PRODUCTION IS DOWN TO SH**! I can get a *&^% job anywhere. Either stop giving me Muslims, or I’m gone.”
Of course they didn’t want to let him go, because he’s probably their best tradesman, (Also in part he laughed to me because, he’s on so many meds he said they know they’ll have a big old discrimination of some kind lawsuit on their hands.)
And here’s the kicker.
At camp meals they won’t even get in line anymore until he’s gone through, because he’ll just barge in the nearest Muslim, LOAD UP ON THE BACON, and dish it out to any Muslim near him, slopping it on the floors and in the other food trays, and where ever.
You should see them scatter, he says, and it’s gotten so senior Muslims in the camp, warn the new ones about him, and they leave him alone.
Plus, if their aren’t any non Muslim apprentices, the company puts him on tasks that don’t require help.
He says he’s go no problem with the (few) Muslims who do their job and shut up, any that even look cross eyed at him, he tunes in, and things are just fine.
Plus the other tradesmen consider him a GOD!
StellaSaidSo says
Sadly, this story is not unusual. The implications for our industry and commerce are immense.
b.a. freeman says
Dan *please* tell your friend to watch his back! there are pious muslims there (guaranteed, since they’re all up in everybody’s business about their filthy cult), so it’s *certain* that some monster somewhere is plotting his murder. just as an abusive husband ignores restraining orders, these twisted cultists think nothing of murder, and if they’re killed in the attempt, so much the better in their eyes!
Dan says
I’m certain he does.
And while an abusive husband does ignore restraining orders, in my friend’s case it’s a bit different.
He’s more like, that wife visibly packing at all times, and on hair trigger.
The muslims nut job enough to want to hurt us, are the ones terrified of pork, and he said you can get pigskin work gloves and boots.
Tough as any assailant would be, it would be impossible not to get touched if came at him. Obviously, you can’t be worried about everything, but if they can’t come within hitting distance, that eliminates about 99.99999% of the problem.
And he KNOWS they’re spooked about the stuff because, offered tongs of bacon they acted like it was napalm.
I honestly don’t know why more women aren’t getting such. I’ve looked online and there’s great pig leather products. Very stylish jackets, purses, belts, wrist bands.
It’s got to be a great defense against the muslim men rotten enough to rape.
Dan says
Oh and I still think bacon scented mace is another product somebody should be working on.
StellaSaidSo says
Yep. And spray cans of pig’s blood extract.
gravenimage says
Yes–he is probably in danger from these Muslims.
gravenimage says
Hugh Fitzgerald: An Unfortunate Outcome At Cargill
…………………
More bowing to Muslim supremacism. Suicidal madness.
Marilyn Griffin says
This is all so WRONG. American businesses never had to deal with such issues until recent years when so many leaders, etc in our nation began to do ANYTHING to appease Muslims. FOREIGNERS choosing to move to the USA knowing quite well the kind of nation we are, and we are beyond stupid to allow THEM to change ANYTHING about us. If they are unwilling to change to assimilate into OUR society, they should leave. There was a time when America/Americans would never have made changes to accommodate foreigners because they were expected to make whatever changes necessary to fit in here; if they wished to live here, it was THEIR responsibility to assimulate completely. And we should return immediately to that philosophy and way of operating. Instead, we are literally and willingly given our own country over to foreigners.
Garfield says
If your beliefs conflict with how a business is run….don’t work there.
This is as stupid as if a Mormon who didn’t drink alcohol wanted to work at a bar but make the bar stop serving alchahol.
If Muslims don’t like American laws and rules they should not be here. We owe them nothing.
mortimer says
“DARURA” is THE ANSWER in such cases … Companies should learn about “DARURA” (necessity)
-DARURA refers to the principles of “NECESSITY” and need to lighten the burden of Muslims so they may practice Islam quietly and preserve their social life. Under ‘darura’, Muslims are permitted to ignore ANY and ALL Islamic rules if ‘necessity’ dictates it, even to the point of openly denying his or her religion.
By applying ‘darura’ to issues of halal/haram (permitted/forbidden) Muslims are enabled to work as shop clerks handling pork and alcohol, if that is needed to earn a living.
Later, when the Islamic community feels strong enough, cases are seen where Muslim shop workers start protesting having to handle these ‘unclean’ items, and demand an exception due to their ‘religious needs’.
Demands for gender segregated swimming halls, prayer breaks, prayer rooms and eventually mosques follow similar patterns, where items that were initially not a concern suddenly become demands voiced with strong conviction of their necessities. Employers and public institutions tend to yield to such Islamic demands, not noticing that this is a slippery slope towards implementation of discriminatory Shariah law.
DARURA means that Muslims do not absolutely NEED anything different, because Sharia law says they can FIT IN if they have a NECESSITY to do so.
Bushdog55 says
I don’t feel sorry for the meat company, they get what they deserve, employ rubbish you get rubbish. Our family support Aussie country butchers who kill their own meat, and boy is it tender, not stressed like hahal killing.
Old Guy says
Muhammad was a racist idiot.
Brenda says
Cargill is a national disgrace. They should never, ever have caved to these savage barbarians.
I certainly hope Cargill docks their pay for each and every ‘prayer break’ they take and for slowing down their production line.
Obliviously, these barbarians didn’t come to work but to pray.
Paddy O'Connor says
With all due respect to all, it’s all our fault for bringing these Mohammedan conmen into our societies.;
if twere their fault they wouldn’t change and we would get robbed ’til nothing left. On the other hand, if we accept full responsibility we could and would change our policy and boot them out forever.
Paddy O'Connor says
Prey!
SweetLadyMary says
I bet many of these people are here illegally. Deport them. We don’t need people that don’t comply with work rules. If Americans have to comply and keep working why should the Muslims be treated differently. If they want to pray on schedule, then they should go back to where they came from where they can pray as much as they’d like.
Richard Kruse says
I have always thought that “Freedom Of Religion” meant “Freedom From Religion.” I am sorry that the unlimited funding from the Saudis meant that Cargill couldn’t fight this in court. We have got to stop this madness.
gravenimage says
I think Cargill could have fought this. But the usual corporate response is to cave, as being (in the short run, at least) cheaper than fighting such cases.
James Snapp Jr says
That’s lawfare.
The impression I get is that Cargill might as well tell its non-Muslim employees that they (the employees) are expected to work 8 hours a day, while Muslim employees work 7 or 7 and 1/2 hours each day, for the same pay. Unless non-Muslims, too, get the same amount of time off for prayers or meditation or whatever. But then you’ve got a factor that reduces the productivity of the business.
ANoniMouse says
The workers weren’t fired. They walked off the job while things were being worked out. They didn’t come back for days. Cargill was within its rights to get the plant going again and found others to fill in the vacated positions. As noted by someone earlier, there is some wiggle room for when prayers are to be completed and conceivably unless they all were doing the same job, a few could have left the line while the others could have picked up the slack until it was their turn. This is another clear instance where knowing the Muslim mindset would have been useful. I agree the settlement was a wrong move. If Cargill it’s so concerned about its reputation, they would have done better arguing their case as they tried (but apparently not hard enough) to negotiate while their workers just walked off, not wanting to engage in working things out. This was a time to be an example of how to deal with this where both parties could have “won”, but Cargill caved. Their loss. Interesting to see what will happen in other Cargill locations now that this precedent is set. Good luck.