British Muslim sues employer for asking her to remove ‘terrorist looking’ black hijab

Woman had been working for Harvey Dean for almost a year when managers took issue with hijab

A Muslim estate agent, who did not want to be named, in the UK is set to sue her former employers after allegedly being told to remove her black headscarf because the garment had ‘terrorist affiliations’, said The Independent.

The woman had been working for Harvey Dean in Bury for almost a year when she claims managers took issue with her hijab. She was told that moving from a back office into public view meant “that it would be in the best interest of the business for her to change the colour of her hijab, due to the supposed terrorist affiliation with the colour black”, a complaint filed at the Manchester Employment Tribunal said.



Her colleague allegedly said that the mostly white and non-Muslim community near the company’s office would “feel intimidated and scared if they saw the claimant”. But the woman said she was not prepared to change her attire for the reasons given.

According to her, she even refused in a phone call and a meeting the next day with the male manager, who had reportedly brought coloured hijabs into the office for her to change into. Hours later, the claimant said she was reprimanded for sending a text message to her father. “He then went on a tirade accusing the claimant of not working,” said tribunal documents.

“The claimant told him that she was on her lunch break but he told her that he did not care [and] then proceeded to tell her to: ‘Get the f*** out of here.’”

The woman resigned from the office after hearing nothing further from the company. She said that her objections to the order “fell on deaf ears” and left her feeling unable to remain at the company.



“I was shocked at what they were asking and the reasons they were giving,” she said. The former housing sales negotiator said she felt “singled out” as the only Muslim woman in the office and claims the company discriminated against her on the basis of both religion and gender.

The complaint urged that her treatment created an “intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating and offensive environment”, and sought a written admission that she was subjected to unlawful discrimination.

The case will be considered at an initial hearing on July 20, which could result in Harvey Dean paying “aggravated damages” and compensation covering loss of earnings, holiday pay and legal fees. “If I receive anything, that will be of secondary importance,” the claimant said.

“What is of primary importance to me over and above anything is that this serves as a warning to employers that such pressure upon employees is absolutely and categorically unacceptable based upon illogical ideas with no evidence.”



“Young Muslim women, whether they attend schools, colleges or work in professional environments, should never have to feel that they have to compromise their religious beliefs or water down their Muslim identity for fear of intimidating people of other or no faith.”

The complaint in Bury alleges that Harvey Dean had no rule of a legal ban on employees from wearing the Islamic headscarf in place, noting that Muslim male employees were allowed to wear beards and the company’s staff handbook stated that it “does not seek to inhibit individual choice as regards appearance”. According to The Independent, the company could not be reached for comment.

This article originally appeared on The Independent