Washington D.C. | www.adc.org | June 2, 2015 – The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination (ADC) welcomes the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision yesterday in EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., which upheld religious protections in the work place.

The case centered on Samantha Elauf, a young Arab-American woman who was denied employment at Abercrombie because she wore a Hijab. ADC filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court supporting Ms. Elauf’s civil right to religious accommodation in the workplace. 

The Supreme Court held that, “An employer may not make an applicant’s religious practice, confirmed or otherwise, a factor in employment decisions.” 

It was irrelevant whether Ms. Elauf explicitly told Abercrombie that she was a Muslim and is required to wear a Hijab to work. What was important is that she was not hired because she wore a Hijab—an employment decision based entirely on a manifestation of faith.

The Supreme Court decision prevents employers from masking discrimination with feigned ignorance and circumventing protections established in Title VII of the Civil Right Act.   

As the only national Arab-American civil rights organization, part of ADC’s core mission is to protect the civil rights and civil liberties of Arab-Americans by defending Arab-Americans from discrimination in the workplace.