posted
Muslim Airport Employee Suspended For Refusing To Wear Knee-Length Skirt
Saturday November 17, 2007 CityNews.ca Staff
A security guard at Toronto's Pearson Airport was ordered off the job for wearing a skirt that's too long.
Halima Muse, a practicing Muslim, was laid off without pay by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority until she agrees to wear a standard uniform that includes either slacks or a skirt that falls at the knee.
Not willing to oblige by the rules, she took matters into her own hands and filed a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission saying she was the target of religious discrimination, since Islam instructs that she dress modestly.
Muse, 33, claims that she's never had any problems with her employer in the five years that she's worked there, until now. She told media that her decision to sport the longer skirt was not a matter of personal style, it was about dignity.
In a statement she made to the Commission, Muse said she never liked the uniform pants that she used to wear because they showed the shape of her body. So she asked the person in charge of work attire for a skirt that's longer than the standard one, but was told it didn't exist. So she went out and bought material matching in colour and made her own skirt that reached her ankle.
For six months, nobody said anything to her about the garment until a manager told her she had to conform to regulations. She was suspended for one day on Aug. 11, then for three days on Aug. 15 followed by a subsequent five-day suspension and then was sent home indefinitely on Aug. 29.
A single mother from Somalia with a teenage son, Muse has been out of a job for the last three months. In that time, she's racked up debt on her credit card and has been borrowing money from relatives, according to a media report.
She said the federal employment insurance agency has rejected her application because she's not officially unemployed. She's allowed to go back to work as long as she conforms to regulations that she considers to be a violation of her religious rights.
quote:Originally posted by Tigerlily: Muslim Airport Employee Suspended For Refusing To Wear Knee-Length Skirt
Saturday November 17, 2007 CityNews.ca Staff
A security guard at Toronto's Pearson Airport was ordered off the job for wearing a skirt that's too long.
Halima Muse, a practicing Muslim, was laid off without pay by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority until she agrees to wear a standard uniform that includes either slacks or a skirt that falls at the knee.
Not willing to oblige by the rules, she took matters into her own hands and filed a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission saying she was the target of religious discrimination, since Islam instructs that she dress modestly.
Muse, 33, claims that she's never had any problems with her employer in the five years that she's worked there, until now. She told media that her decision to sport the longer skirt was not a matter of personal style, it was about dignity.
In a statement she made to the Commission, Muse said she never liked the uniform pants that she used to wear because they showed the shape of her body. So she asked the person in charge of work attire for a skirt that's longer than the standard one, but was told it didn't exist. So she went out and bought material matching in colour and made her own skirt that reached her ankle.
For six months, nobody said anything to her about the garment until a manager told her she had to conform to regulations. She was suspended for one day on Aug. 11, then for three days on Aug. 15 followed by a subsequent five-day suspension and then was sent home indefinitely on Aug. 29.
A single mother from Somalia with a teenage son, Muse has been out of a job for the last three months. In that time, she's racked up debt on her credit card and has been borrowing money from relatives, according to a media report.
She said the federal employment insurance agency has rejected her application because she's not officially unemployed. She's allowed to go back to work as long as she conforms to regulations that she considers to be a violation of her religious rights.
posted
But here is the important part. People like that woman are exactly the ones who make countries like Canada just a bit more "free" than others. As her situation clearly demonstrate, many if not most Canadians are dumber than ****. Few of them make the difference. Few stand up and fight for their rights while others wonder what the fuss was all about.
Posts: 2235 | From: Jail | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
Automatik, did it occur to you that she's not employed by the airport for her model size (if she has it then) but as a security guard?
What do you think - how fast can a woman with a long skirt up to her ankles run? And what about insurance issues in case she gets injured because her long skirt gets hooked somewhere or other damage? And she refused of wearing the official uniform pants too? Sorry but this woman had options.
She obviously didn't care for five years about the way she looked in her airport uniform. So why now?
There is a reason for standardized uniforms in all kind of different professions which require them.
Why do people like her always must have something to complain and don't want to follow clear regulations? Seriously, she's been better off in a job where she can wear as it suits her but I am afraid something else - what will not please her - will come up the way...
These days too many times you hear about lawsuits brought up because of 'religious discrimination' stemming from clothing conflicts and it's more than annoying.
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quote:Originally posted by Tigerlily: Automatik, did it occur to you that she's not employed by the airport for her model size (if she has it then) but as a security guard?
What do you think - how fast can a woman with a long skirt up to her ankles run? And what about insurance issues in case she gets injured because her long skirt gets hooked somewhere or other damage? And she refused of wearing the official uniform pants too? Sorry but this woman had options.
She obviously didn't care for five years about the way she looked in her airport uniform. So why now?
There is a reason for standardized uniforms in all kind of different professions which require them.
Why do people like her always must have something to complain and don't want to follow clear regulations? Seriously, she's been better off in a job where she can wear as it suits her but I am afraid something else - what will not please her - will come up the way...
These days too many times you hear about lawsuits brought up because of 'religious discrimination' stemming from clothing conflicts and it's more than annoying.
No it did not occur to me, I read it!
First of all she has the right and obligation to demand changes to whatever rules she believes are unfair. I can't find a quote a read a few days ago that describes her very well. Its about how some people see things most of us never understand or contemplate. They're the ones who make things happen. They're the ones who make a change. It doesn't matter if we agree or not the bottom line is she stood up for what she believes is her right, that's honourable. Whatever comes out of it is going to be for the better. It will at least assert our rights, ordinary people, to hold those in authority accountable for their actions.
Now when I read your article I did a quick search for her name to find out more because I did not hear about it in our local news, not the ones I listen to. And the articles I read were typical of branches of Canadian "authority". They're under the impression that they don't have to answer to us ordinary people. They simply stated that those were the rules and that was that. Well they're greatly mistaken. They have to explain why she could not wear that skirt and in detail. How did she manage to do her job for the length of time she did wearing the long skirt? What about if a woman is pregnant? There are too many questions.
The point is, we make the rules and we can change them any time we like.
Posts: 2235 | From: Jail | Registered: Jun 2004
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