Muslim Woman In Virginia Claims
Asking for Prayer Break Cost Her Job
Newsweek,
by
Daniel Avery
Original Article
Posted By: M2,
9/26/2019 11:09:47 AM
Muslim woman in northern Virginia claims she was denied a job because she asked about taking two five-minute prayer breaks during her shift.
In a suit filed in federal court on Tuesday, 26-year-old Shahin Indorewala maintains her interview for a junior management position with Fast Trak Management in Falls Church was going well—until she inquired about taking the breaks in exchange for a shorter lunch.
Observant Muslims are expected to pray five times a day, where ever they may be. With the schedule for the job set for 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Indorewala said she knew at least two of those prayer sessions would take place during business hours.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Mushroom 9/26/2019 11:13:55 AM (No. 190059)
I suppose it's a comment on the position we have been placed in, but I don't believe her and the company isn't allowed to respond due to privacy. Why is CAIR not a hate group?
23 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
bpl40 9/26/2019 11:20:20 AM (No. 190067)
When you enter the workplace you leave religion, hijab and all at the door. It is not fair to your employer or fellow employees.
22 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
PChristopher 9/26/2019 11:22:46 AM (No. 190073)
You knew our way of doing things when you came here. If you don't like it, get out.
39 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
jlw509 9/26/2019 11:27:42 AM (No. 190078)
I know I'm in the minority here, but I think, just on the basis of the facts revealed in this article, that she's in the right. Two 5-minute breaks, with the time taken off of her lunch time, is not a real imposition on her employer, no more than 5 min to give yourself an insulin shot or 5 min to go to the bathroom.
Assuming the facts in the article are correct and as complete as they need to be, I think she was discriminated against because of her religion.
BTW,I think Islam is a false religion (my own sober assessmen of the historic founding story is that it is demon-inspired) and problematic on many social, cultural and political levels. But if this lady only needs 2 5-min breaks, compensated for by shortening her lunch, I think she's being reasonable and the guy who mocked her and blocked her, is acting like a jerk and quite possibly illegally.
And no, I don't care for CAIR either. Just trying to judge justly.
7 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
chance_232 9/26/2019 11:32:32 AM (No. 190084)
Well lady.......If you were strictly following your religion:
A, You wouldn't work outside of the home.
B, You wouldnt be out in public without a male family member escort.
C, You wouldnt be driving.
D, You would cover you face in public.
E, You would never be in a management position.
Islam is not an ala carte religion. You either practice it, or your an apostate. Regardless, I personally think there is more to this story that isnt being told.
38 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
rabblerouser 9/26/2019 11:53:38 AM (No. 190117)
It never ends. Just whah, whah, whah, 24/7, 365. Leave if you don't like how things are run here.
15 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
DVC 9/26/2019 12:02:25 PM (No. 190130)
Good. Now, move back to your Muslim hell hole and leave us alone.
18 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
franq 9/26/2019 12:03:01 PM (No. 190131)
I disagree, #4. I can pray at my desk any time, all day long.
27 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Clinger 9/26/2019 12:04:22 PM (No. 190133)
Any time you accommodate one person's special request you open the door to everybody. It's easy to find yourself with a different policy for every other person. I think in this case I would have taken that risk. I wonder if they like so many have special rules, extra breaks, for smokers. However; I am skeptical regarding the veracity of her story, particularly the mocking bit.
9 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
joew9 9/26/2019 12:05:05 PM (No. 190134)
In my workplace we have about six male Muslims. Three of them don't observe their religion enough to reveal anything at work. I suspect they don't go to the mosque hardly ever except maybe on special days. Just like Christmas Christians. The other 3 do observe and rather fanatically, so they do some kind of body washing ritual every afternoon. One of them is a very polite guy, very intelligent, and he goes to the janitors closet, closes the door, and uses that sink. Hardly anyone even knows he does that. The other two are obnoxious b-------s. They use the sinks in the rest room. And when they leave, the floor is flooded. Everything has been splashed. What a mess. I've been to management to see if they could request these guys to use the janitors closet but management is afraid. So it continues. Someone is going to slip and fall on the flooded floor. Maybe management will have courage after that but I doubt it.
16 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
mc squared 9/26/2019 12:23:59 PM (No. 190150)
What would a Christian or a Jew lose if they asked for a prayer break in a Muzzie country?
Never mind.
16 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
stablemoney 9/26/2019 12:33:21 PM (No. 190156)
I would not have hired her either. Nobody should be forced to hire anybody.
16 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
udanja99 9/26/2019 12:45:24 PM (No. 190163)
If you want to take prayer breaks during work, go live in a Muslim country. I can just imagine the response if a Christian asked to take several breaks a day to pray.
10 people like this.
This is obviously and transparently about Muslims exerting societal pressure to carve out special treatment for them but not for any other people of faith.
14 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
DCGIRL 9/26/2019 1:13:26 PM (No. 190176)
It wasn't the prayer breaks that upset the manager, she was preaching her belief to others. It got to the point that she was pushing her religion onto other employees. I guess he received numerous complaints. She should be fired. Religion should not be forced on others. It makes people uncomfortable if they believe differently.
9 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Lawsy0 9/26/2019 1:13:28 PM (No. 190177)
For all we know, the Sunday people are praying hard for those Saturday people that they will meet the Lord.
2 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
ladycatnip 9/26/2019 1:13:41 PM (No. 190178)
Just 5 minutes each? I highly doubt that. Each prayer session would turn into 10 minutes, then 15. I agree with #8, pray silently at your desk. No employer should be forced to accommodate this.
10 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
wsdiego 9/26/2019 1:27:31 PM (No. 190189)
Religious ritual is not conducive with the work day!
5 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Chuzzles 9/26/2019 1:36:46 PM (No. 190198)
Pray on your own time lady. That is what the morning break and the afternoon break are for. Not to mention the lunch break. You are not in the ME anymore, and you need to deal with that. We are Christian here, not muslim.
8 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
GO3 9/26/2019 1:45:10 PM (No. 190205)
Sorry #5, but things have and are changing for several years now:
A, You wouldn't work outside of the home. Yes they do.
B, You wouldnt be out in public without a male family member escort. Yes they are, even in the holy cities.
C, You wouldnt be driving. They started last year in Saudi Arabia and have been in the UAE and Oman.
D, You would cover you face in public. Not necessarily, depends on the job and on the tribe/family. I've seen many women in shopping centers and at the workplace without a head covering or a veil.
E, You would never be in a management position. I would never say never.
0 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
His_Highness 9/26/2019 3:15:44 PM (No. 190269)
It is not the prayer break per se that is the problem, it is the special treatment. Try being a Christian and asking for special treatment. If Christians don't get special treatment, neither should Muslims, Jews, Hindus, or any other religion.
They should all get precisely the same special treatment, or no special treatment at all.
3 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
mean Gene 9/26/2019 3:36:06 PM (No. 190288)
Muslims have a HUGE margin of time (actually overlapping one another) for when they can pray.
Mohammad claimed his "god" insisted on 100 daily prayers but he talked him down to just 5.
In Egypt, before the Islamic uprising during Obama, businesses and gov't were all complaining that people at work were taking too long changing clothes, bathing, then praying the LONGEST prayer in the koran, then rechanging their clothes, multiple times a day.
One study found Muslim workers had cut down actual time on the job to a mere 36 minutes per shift!
Don't even give them a chance to go down that road!
3 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
Catherine 9/26/2019 4:35:18 PM (No. 190347)
Not knowing what her particular job is, maybe her times to pray would interrupt the flow of her job. So no, #4, she shouldn't get special attention in this way. Reminds me of Meridith Vierra publicly going after 60 Minutes, years ago, to be the first woman regular on their show,. She got the job then immediately asked for special hours because she had small children at home. No one minds women working, but if you can't do the job in the time required of others, then find something else to do.
2 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
BigGeorgeTX 9/26/2019 5:11:06 PM (No. 190380)
Was she planning on whipping out her prayer rug in the middle of meetings? If she wants to follow her religious rituals she should find a Muslim company to work for, either here or preferably in the Middle East. You have to accommodate your employer's schedule, not the other way around.
1 person likes this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
watashiyo 9/26/2019 5:53:01 PM (No. 190424)
Soon a special prayer room. A larger room for a dozen more. At will demand for religious time off. Demand changes in company compliance policies and work ethics to conform to their religious ideologies. ....it all starts for only 5 minutes of prayer time.
3 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
Daisy Mae 9/26/2019 6:05:34 PM (No. 190442)
It sounds like she needs a different job, one that would put her on her knees, such as prostitution. I saw her picture though and she would probably starve to death before the first prayer.
0 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
PostAway 9/26/2019 7:26:45 PM (No. 190489)
It sounds like a set up to me. I’ll bet she interviewed for that job with the intent of filing a complaint after arranging things with CAIR.
2 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
rochow 9/26/2019 8:11:45 PM (No. 190523)
Christians do not get prayer breaks. End of story!
2 people like this.
Somehow I think they know in advance, and they are testing employers with lawsuits in mind.
It's a workplace. Why do the prayers have to be done within those 8 hours? Give them an inch, they will take a mile.
3 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
judy 9/27/2019 3:52:06 AM (No. 190721)
Would Newsweek report this if she was a Christian asking for time to pray?
0 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
KatieJo 9/27/2019 9:24:00 AM (No. 190938)
I am reminded what the contract manufacturing company I worked for did immediately after we were attacked on 9/11, they put in a muslim prayer room! We, meaning "regular Americans" who also worked there were astounded. They also taught English to the foreign employees. We are second class citizens to those who are not even citizens.
0 people like this.
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Work is for working. Until we have a theocracy, pray somewhere else.