In recent weeks, we’ve watched the furor grow over the proposed building of an Islamic cultural center and mosque near the site of Ground Zero.
Last week, as we prepared our annual mournful remembrance of 9/11, a Florida pastor stole headlines by announcing he planned to burn the Quran, the holy Muslim text, as a protest on the national day of mourning.
If you’re like me, you shook your head at these news stories, saddened that perhaps we haven’t come as far as we’d like to think in terms of ethnic and religious tolerance. But in general, you likely didn’t think your involvement in growing Muslim intolerance was direct, if at all.
However, new numbers from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission may make you think otherwise. Claims of bias against Muslims in the workplace rose to 1,490 last year — higher than significantly higher than 1,304 in 2008 and even higher than 2002, just after 9/11, when bias claims hit 1,463. The EEOC does not yet have claims for this year available.
Among some of the cases are claims of bias involving female Muslim workers fighting employers who asked them to remove their hijab, a headscarf traditionally worn as a sign of modesty.
And, as always, let me know what you think. Have you seen an increase in acts or attitudes of intolerance or bias against Muslims in the workplace? In terms of policies and programs, is it something your company is sensitive to? What do you think has caused the spike in bias claims?
Leave your thoughts in the comments.
