It’s always nice when the Supreme Court comes down on the side of justice, but it’s even better when it includes coming down against Abercrombie & Fitch. The court sided with Samantha Elauf, who was rejected from a job at the clothing retailer because of her headscarf, which she wears because she is Muslim. The retailer argued that she couldn’t be hired as they don’t allow employees to wear headwear because it violates the company’s “Look Policy.”
The ban on “disparate treatment” in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “prohibits actions taken with the motive of avoiding the need for accommodating a religious practice,” Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the Supreme Court on Monday. “A request for accommodation, or the employer’s certainty that the practice exists, may make it easier to infer motive, but is not a necessary condition of liability. Abercrombie’s primary argument is that an applicant cannot show disparate treatment without first showing that an employer has ‘actual knowledge’ of the applicant’s need for an accommodation,” he wrote. “We disagree. Instead, an applicant need only show that his need for an accommodation was a motivating factor in the employer’s decision.”
Now if only the Supreme Court could do something about the nasty, over-cologned Axe-spray-type essence that wafts out of that store …
Team Blackness also discussed a horrible new reality show on CBS that pits poor families against each other for money, more racist remarks from Cliven Bundy, and even more bad news for unarmed black people when it comes to the police.
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Supreme Court/Religious Freedom 1, Abercrombie & Fitch 0Post + Comments (92)