Here's A Dilemma

[pocaracas]

CM, Let's say I'm straight out of law school, top of the class, super memory for all the law's caveats and so on.
I apply for a position at a law firm, they like my CV and set up an interview.
I show up wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Will they hire me? (NO)
Is there any health and safety hazard? (NO)
Is it an aesthetic thing? (YES)
Would it harm the business if I wore jeans and t-shirt to work? (Depends on the customer)

I'm not saying that businesses shouldn't have a dress code or set certain standards of appearance, I'm saying there should be some reasonable amount of leniency in lieu of these things being purely aesthetic. Which A&F apparently has, since they say they allow a limited exception for religious head coverings (a caveat that might have been brought about by A&F being sued on this exact same issue previous to this case).
http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/9-1-10.cfm

yeah... when I replied to you, I wasn't aware of that other prior information...
I'm out of ideas as to how these guys are going to defend themselves...

The bottom line is, based on current law, A&F must accommodate employees' sincerely held religious beliefs unless that business can demonstration that doing so would "impose an undue hardship on the business" (quoted from the link above) and, in my opinion, if such an accommodation would endanger the health and safety of the employee (such as an employee who cannot wear a hard hat because their religion demands they wear a turban or cannot adequate operate a respirator because they have a full beard, or an employee that wears flowing clothing that could be entangled in machinery).

Perhaps they can claim diminished sales due to that conservative clerk...?

That said, what is the target audience for this Abercrombie? Is it conservative, or, as someone said, raunchy?
If it is conservative, then I agree that the woman should be hired as she would be upholding conservative values by wearing that thing on her head and showing her respect for her cultural heritage (note I didn't say religion the hijab is not a religious item, as far as I'm concerned)
If the store caters to young liberal slutty women, then the staff must act and dress accordingly.
It seems the store has a dress code and that code disallows the covering of the hair. Knowing this, why would that woman go to the job interview wearing something in defiance of the established dress code?

Why would that woman, whose culture and/or religious beliefs seem to value/dictate a certain level of modesty, want to work in a store that sells clothing that, according to her culture and/or religious beliefs, are immodest?

Why do some muslims work at supermarkets where they sell non-hallal meat?
Why do (some of) they, after being hired, then refuse to sell that meat?

It seems to me that she's caught in the middle between a culture that values modesty to such a high degree that even having her hair uncovered is too much to handle, and a culture in which women can wear midriff-bearing, form-fitting, "immodest" clothing all they want.

Indeed she is... and she wants her way to come on top.

I wonder, though:

Would Abercrombie & Fitch allow a female cancer patient who has lost all her hair to wear a head scarf?

why do you say something like that? got anything against bald women?

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