A Muslim woman beat clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch at the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday after suing the company for not hiring her based only on her religious beliefs.
While that seems like an obvious decision, there was one key aspect of Samantha Elauf’s case that differentiated it. She tried to get a sales job at an Abercrombie Kids store in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2008, when she was 17. However, she didn’t specifically ask for any special requests based on religious reasons. In her case, she wanted to wear the hijab, despite the company’s strict dress code.
So, the question before the Court was: In order to sue a company over religious discrimination under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, does a person need to have made a special request when applying for the job?
The Court overwhelmingly sided with Elauf, voting 8-1, notes USA Today. Justice Clarence Thomas was the only dissenting vote. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the court opinion.
"The rule for disparate-treatment claims based on a failure to accommodate a religious practice is straightforward,” Scalia wrote. “An employer may not make an applicant's religious practice, confirmed or otherwise, a factor in employment decisions.”
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency, sued Abercrombie & Fitch on Elauf’s behalf.
According to Reuters, Abercrombie said that it will consider its “next steps in the litigation,” noting that the court didn’t say that Elauf was actually discriminated against.
You can read the court’s decision right here.
image from Abercrombie.com