November 7, 2013
Later today, the Cincinnati chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cincinnati) will hold a news conference to announce the filing of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) civil rights complaint on behalf of 24 former workers at the DHL Global Mail facility in Hebron, Ky., who were fired for exercising their legally protected religious rights.
CAIR-Cincinnati says the DHL workers were dismissed from their jobs for asserting their right to reasonable accommodation for their religious practices, including daily prayer.
“CAIR has informed the company of its obligation under the law to reasonably accommodate these workers’ religious practices,” said CAIR-Cincinnati Executive Director Karen Dabdoub. “Instead of abiding by the law and doing the right thing, DHL has decided to stand behind their violation of these workers’ civil rights.”
Background:
On October 9, DHL Global Mail fired a group of 24 workers, some of whom had been working at DHL for up to 6 years, for refusing to accept a new workplace rule that violated their rights under the Kentucky Civil Rights Act and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
In this case, the DHL workers had been using their break time to perform the evening (Maghrib) prayer. The company reportedly decided to eliminate flexible break times, thereby preventing the men and women from practicing their faith. When the workers asserted their legal rights, they were all fired.
