American bank denies muslim women service

By Andem
February 03, 2009

A Muslim woman has allegedly been denied service in a bank in California for wearing an Islamic headscarf, prompting a civil rights group to take up the issue with the US department of justice.

The Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) asked the department to determine whether a California bank violated a Muslim woman's civil rights when it denied her service because of wearing a religiously-mandated 'hijab'.

Responding to the charge, the bank told CAIR that “in the interest of security and safety for our members and employees - hats, hoods and sunglasses must be removed when entering the branch office.”

"Special consideration for cultural and religious garments is under the discretion of the branch management," it said, adding that it is making inquiries into the recent incident."


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