June 1, 2015 — New York, New York
AJC welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court decision, by an 8-1 vote, in favor of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit filed on behalf of a Muslim woman, Samantha Elauf, who was denied employment in an Abercrombie & Fitch store.
The company allegedly believed that the woman’s religious headscarf was inconsistent with its edgy image. It claimed that because she had not asked for an accommodation in the course of her interview, they were insulated from any obligation under federal civil rights laws to provide such an accommodation.
AJC had joined with eight other civil rights and civil liberties organizations to urge the Court to overturn a lower court decision that, the groups argued, imposed “unique and onerous” requirements on those claiming to have suffered religion-based discrimination.
“The Supreme Court decision is clear. Employers may not cover up their refusal to accommodate employee religious practices behind a cone of silence in the hiring process,” said AJC General Counsel Marc Stern. “The decision is also a welcome reminder that in America, Muslims, as well as other believers, do not have to leave their religious beliefs at home.”
Organizations that joined with AJC in filing the brief include the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Jewish Social Policy Action Network, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, National Center for Lesbian Rights, Union for Reform Judaism, Central Conference of American Rabbis and Women of Reform Judaism.
The brief was prepared by the University of Virginia Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, led by David T. Goldberg, Toby J. Heytens and Daniel R. Ortiz, and signed as well by Professor Douglas Laycock of the University of Virginia Law School and Marc D. Stern, AJC’s General Counsel.
