Thread: US firm axes Muslim workforce over prayer dispute

US firm axes Muslim workforce over prayer dispute

Fri Jan 1, 2016 10:56AM

Cargill Meat Solutions has fired nearly 200 Muslims after they objected to restrictions on their on-job prayer time. (file photo)

Nearly 200 Muslim workers have been sacked by a meat-packing plant in the US State of Colorado following a dispute over restrictions on their prayer time.According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Cargill Meat Solutions facility treated 190 of its employees, mostly Somali immigrants, in a “discriminatory manner,” the Reuters reported Thursday.

Jaylani Hussein, a spokesman for CAIR, said the workers objected to new restrictions on their ability to worship on the job, "which they had been granted for a long period of time."

“All of these employees are good employees (and) don’t have any other issues,” Hussein added, explaining that the dispute was caused by the company’s "misunderstanding on policy changes" regarding workplace prayer.

Meanwhile, Mike Martin, a spokesman for Minneapolis-based Cargill, denied any changes in policy on their part, saying that since 2009 the Fort Morgan plant has designated an on-site “reflection area" for people of all faiths.

However, he said flexibility on the prayer time is subject to workflow conditions among a variety of other factors. “Cargill makes every reasonable attempt to provide religious accommodations to all employees based on our ability to do so without disruption to our beef-processing business.”

According to Martin, the employees were fired after staging a walkout despite being warned that failing to show up for work on three consecutive days without calling in could jeopardize their employment.

Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Human Rights Commission, said there may have been a misunderstanding on the part of Cargill managers because depending on the time of year, Muslims are required to pray at different times during the day.

Jamal said his organization has gotten in touch with Cargill to find a possible solution so that the workers can get their jobs back.

”Hopefully, there can be a clear policy in place that everyone understands that would solve the problem,” he said.

Founded in 1865, Cargill employs 155,000 people in 68 countries and is the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue, according to its website.

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/01...li-Immigrants/

Cargill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargill

Cargill, Inc., is an American privately held, global corporation, based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, a Minneapolis suburb. Founded in 1865, it is now the largest ...
Owner‎: ‎Cargill family (90%)
Net income‎: ‎US$ 1.58 billion (FY 2015)
Industry‎: ‎Food processing; Commodity
Revenue‎: ‎US$ 120.4 billion (FY 2015)

Dispute drags on between Colorado meatpacking plant and Somali workers over prayer breaks


9/12/2008

http://www.alipac.us/f19/dispute-dra...omalis-124169/

12/4/2009

http://www.alipac.us/f19/hertz-sued-...uslims-170768/

According to Martin, the employees were fired after staging a walkout despite being warned that failing to show up for work on three consecutive days without calling in could jeopardize their employment.

Damn! That's generous. Everywhere I worked you would have been fired by noon if you didn't call in unless you were unconscious in a hospital and then they would want to know why your friends or family didn't call in for you?

Stand your ground, Cargill. And other companies hiring immigrants with issues .... you better wake the hell up.

The story re the outrageous amount of money awarded the 2 muslims for refusing to deliver beer has been posted but not coming up in a search. The taxpayers paid for their legal representation thru the federal US Equal Opportunity Commission. This particular post has an interesting ending.

Muslim Truck Drivers Fired for Refusing to Deliver Beer Awarded $240K

By Mairead McArdle | November 9, 2015 |




(CNSNews.com) -- Two Muslim truck drivers were awarded $240,000 by a federal jury in Peoria, Illinois last month after they were fired for refusing to deliver beer because they claimed that doing so would violate their religious beliefs.


The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued Morton, Ill.-based Star Transport in May, 2013 on behalf of the two Somalis, Mahad Abass Mohamed and Abdkiarim Hassan Bulshale, for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which bans discrimination on the basis of religion.

Mohamed and Bulshale were each awarded $20,000 in compensatory damages, $100,000 in punitive damages, and $1,500 in back pay.


"Our investigation revealed that Star could have readily avoided assigning these employees to alcohol delivery without any undue hardship, but chose to force the issue despite the employees' Islamic religion," said EEOC District Director John P. Rowe when the suit was filed.


EEOC attorney June Calhoun argued that the company’s decision to fire the truckers caused them “catastrophic” damages.


"This is an awesome outcome,” Calhoun said. “Star Transport failed to provide any discrimination training to its human resources personnel, which led to catastrophic results for these employees. They suffered real injustice that needed to be addressed.


“By this verdict, the jury remedied the injustice by sending clear messages to Star Transport and other employers that they will be held accountable for their unlawful employment practices. Moreover, they signaled to Mr. Mohamed and Mr. Bulshale that religious freedom is a right for all Americans."
"Everyone has a right to observe his or her religious beliefs, and employers don't get to pick and choose which religions and which religious practices they will accommodate,” said John Hendrickson, regional attorney for the EEOC's Chicago District office.


“If an employer can reasonably accommodate an employee's religious practice without an undue hardship, then it must do so. That is a principle which has been memorialized in federal employment law for almost 50 years, and it is why EEOC is in this case."


However, Star Transport went out of business earlier this year and it remains unclear how the former truckers will get their money.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/...eliver-alcohol

However, Star Transport went out of business earlier this year and it remains unclear how the former truckers will get their money.

The workers should not have taken the jobs to begin with if they weren't willing to deliver whatever products the company handles. There is no place in our society for employers to "accommodate" someone's religious beliefs that interfere with the job. Workers should refrain from taking jobs that have tasks they refuse to do. It's not fair to the other employees who do everything to accommodate other employees who want to pick and choose what they want to do and use their religion as their excuse.

The company was correct in firing them and the justice system was wrong for supporting the employees in this case over the employer.

It's sad the company went out of business but hilarioust the workers and lawyers won't get their money from the company they closed down.

This case though proves a big red flag to hiring Muslims who put their religion above a job they claim they need and without having causes them "catastrophic" consequences. Religion is personal. So if you keep it out of the work place and out of government, everyone can get along.

Originally Posted by artist

The story re the outrageous amount of money awarded the 2 muslims for refusing to deliver beer has been posted but not coming up in a search. . .

Obama Admin Teams Up With Muslims, Enforces Shariah on U.S. Businesses

Muslim workers may reapply for jobs sooner after firings over prayer dispute


About 150 Muslim workers have been fired from Cargill Meat Solutions in Fort Morgan, Colorado, after walking off the job to protest a workplace prayer dispute. (Associated Press) more >

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Friday, January 8, 2016

DENVER — The dispute over on-the-job prayer that led to the firing of about 150 Muslim employees at a Colorado meat-packing plant moved closer to resolution Friday after the company said workers may reapply for their positions after 30 days, instead of 180.

Still unclear is whether the workers and Cargill Meat Solutions have resolved the conflict that led to the walk-out and the subsequent mass firing at the plant in Fort Morgan, Colorado.

In a statement Friday, Cargill said the rehiring policy was changed “to allow all former employees terminated for attendance violation or job abandonment to be considered for potential rehiring 30 days after their termination date. This is a change from what previously had been a 180-day period.”

The statement also said that about 150 workers, not 190 as previously reported, were fired in keeping with the company’s policy, which says employees may be fired after missing work for three consecutive days without calling.

“This change will provide for an orderly and expeditious reapplication process for people seeking an opportunity to potentially fill vacant positions at our beef plants,” said Cargill Beef President John Keating in the statement.

The Muslim workers, most of them Somalian, were fired the week of Dec. 18 after a three-day walk-out stemming from what the they described as a policy change that made it more difficult for them to pray at work. Cargill officials said the policy had stayed the same.

“Accommodation requests are made to work area supervision and granted based on production line staffing and other factors that may vary day-to-day,” said Cargill in its Friday statement.

“Although not guaranteed, and not part of the meal and break periods that are part of the plant’s union agreement with Teamsters local 455, the vast majority of religious accommodation requests are routinely granted during each of the plant’s two weekday work shifts.”

Both sides have since cited misunderstandings about the policy as the reason for the dispute.

“The terminations at Fort Morgan appear to be based on a misunderstanding, or misinformation, about a perceived change in our religious accommodation policy that did not occur,” Mr. Keating said. “Allegations that we were not going to allow prayer any longer are false.”

Jenifer Wicks, civil-rights litigation director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement Friday that the conflict over prayer has yet to be resolved.

“While we welcome the changes to the termination rehire process because our clients want to return to work and support their families, this does not resolve the prayer accommodation denial and the ambiguity of the current policy on prayer,” Ms. Wicks said.

CAIR “has been retained to represent the majority of the workers fired from the plant,” according to the statement.
In a Thursday letter to Cargill CEO David MacLennan, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said the group had participated in two telephone conferences last week with company attorneys.

“We also wish to discuss and strategize about Cargill’s religious accommodation policy, which currently requires workers at the plant to ask daily for an accommodation for prayer,” he said in the letter.

Cargill operates eight major plants in the United States and Canada and employs about 18,000 people.

“We celebrate, respect and encourage diversity in our beef business, which employs people whose origins span many different nations,” Mr. Keating said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...=all#pagebreak