Milwaukee – Seven Muslim workers at an eastern Wisconsin manufacturer have been fired after disregarding a break policy that did not allow them to pray at the times dictated by their faith, the company said on Wednesday.
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The terminated workers were among 53 Somali Muslims who walked off the job on Jan. 14 after Ariens Company, a tools and equipment maker in Brillion, Wisconsin, began requiring them to pray only during the two 10-minute breaks provided to them during the day, the company said in a statement.
The seven workers were fired for taking unscheduled breaks, while 14 others have resigned since the walkout. The 32 Muslim employees who came back to work were following the break rules, the company said. Muslims are required to pray five times a day – at daybreak, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and evening.
“We would have liked for more of the employees to stay, however, we respect their faith, we respect the work they have done for Ariens Company and we respect their decisions,” the company said.
The former employees are working with the Council on American-Islamic Relations to determine their next steps, which could include legal action against the company, said Jaylani Hussein, the organization’s executive director.
“It came out of nowhere and the company did not want to listen to some suggestions and options to make the current breaks more flexible to align with the prayer schedule,” he said.
Ariens, which has 1,500 employees worldwide, has set up designated prayer rooms for Muslim workers in Brillion, the company said. Brillion is about 25 miles south of Green Bay.
The company said letting the workers pray during unscheduled breaks disrupted production schedules. In certain circumstances, workers can be prohibited from praying during unscheduled breaks if it causes an “undue hardship” for the business, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Nearly 200 workers, mostly Somali immigrants, were fired from a Cargill Meat Solutions [CARGIL.UL] facility in Fort Morgan, Colorado, on Dec. 31 after staging a walkout to protest what they said were insufficient prayer accommodations.
The action against these Muslims should be protested especially vociferously by Yidden.
This is a fundamentally Christian country, dominated by people, both secular and religious, for whom a daily derech means not a thing. Yet, the legal and social culture of tolerance born of Liberal values is so strong in the United States that it is a given that religious minorities “should” be permitted to practice their faiths.
These values and tolerance are what makes it so easy to observe Yiddishkeit here…and we should defend the importance of them for all who live here.
They got their own prayer room? Probably no Jews are allowed in.
Oh boy here comes the lawsuits.
I am sure they have the ACLU on speed dial.
Can’t wait for Obama to say America’s principles were founded on Muslim ideology.
The company has policies if you can’t follow them then find another job, I don’t see how this is discrimination.
You gotta commend that manager’s courage, he will likely wake up someday soon to find his head next to him in the bed