Safoorah Khan had taught middle school math for only nine months in this tiny Chicago suburb when she made an unusual request. She wanted three weeks off for a pilgrimage to Mecca.
The school district, faced with losing its only math lab instructor during the critical end-of-semester marking period, said no. Khan, a devout Muslim, resigned and made the trip anyway.
Justice Department lawyers examined the same set of facts and reached a different conclusion: that the school district’s decision amounted to outright discrimination against Khan. They filed an unusual lawsuit, accusing the district of violating her civil rights by forcing her to choose between her job and her faith.
Read More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/justice-department-sues-on-behalf-of-muslim-teacher-triggering-debate/2010/07/28/ABfSPtEB_story.html
My husband is a very devout member of our faith and he has requested several times at his job to have Sundays off so he can attend church. However, he has repeatedly been scheduled to work on Sundays. According to the Justice Department this is discrimination against my husband and he is being forced to chose between his job and faith. I’m sure that there are a millions of others in this country, of many different faiths, who have often had to work on their Sabbath day, Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, or something like a baptism of christening of a family member, etc. (I am not a world religion expert so I am just listing the religious holidays and events that I am familiar with). So why is this specific case worth spending tax-payer dollars on? And if the Justice Department doesn’t look into the case of my husbands employer being discriminatory I am going to assume the Justice Department is discriminating against my husband, or else why do they not consider his situation as serious as they do Ms. Khans?
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