High-profile retailer Abercrombie & Fitch is being sued for religious discrimination after a Muslim employee claims she was fired for refusing to remove her religiously mandated head covering.
In a news conference Monday, [20-year-old Hani] Khan – wearing a bright purple hijab – said the experience with Abercrombie "shook my confidence. I didn't have that problem before."
Khan began wearing a hijab when she was in kindergarten and said she never had a problem while growing up in Foster City.
"After 9/11, all my neighbors, all my classmates, all my teachers – they supported me," Khan said. "No one had an issue then. For there to be an issue now, it was just completely out of the ordinary."
Khan's suit seeks to force Abercrombie to change its dress code to loosen restrictions on religious clothing. She is not trying to get her job back but is seeking back wages and unspecified damages.
Khan's lawsuit follows a determination by the EEOC that she was wrongfully terminated.
