Justices Rule for Muslim Denied Job Over Headscarf

The Supreme Court has sided with a Muslim woman who did not get hired after she showed up to a job interview with clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch wearing a head scarf
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Justices Rule for Muslim Denied Job Over Headscarf
Contestant of the Muslimah World 2013, Obabiyi Aishah Ajibola of Nigeria, checks her make-up in a mirror while contestants wait for a grand final during the Muslimah World competition in Jakarta on September 18, 2013. (ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images)
The Associated Press
6/1/2015
Updated:
6/1/2015

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court has sided with a Muslim woman who did not get hired after she showed up to a job interview with clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch wearing a head scarf.

The justices said Monday that employers generally have to accommodate job applicants and employees with religious needs if the employer at least has an idea that such accommodation is necessary.

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Job applicant Samantha Elauf did not tell her interviewer in Oklahoma she was Muslim.

But Justice Antonin Scalia said for the court that Abercrombie “at least suspected” that Elauf wore a head scarf for religious reasons. Scalia said: “That is enough.”