A Muslim flight attendant says she was suspended by ExpressJet because of her refusal to serve alcohol due to her religious beliefs.
Charee Stanley, 40, filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Detroit last week.
Her attorney says the Atlanta-based airline initially agreed to a religious accommodation, telling her another flight attendant could handle passenger requests for alcohol.
However, she said Stanley was put on a 12-month unpaid leave last month after another attendant complained.
Lena Masri, an attorney with Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, says the employee’s complaint against Stanley had “Islamophobic” overtones, noting she carried a book with “foreign writings” and wore a head scarf.
ExpressJet issued a statement saying the airline values diversity but could not comment on personnel matters.
(AP)
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3 Responses
What’s the issue with serving it to others? I thought they were just not allowed to drink it.
Given that one of the major jobs on a flight attendant is to sell alcoholic beverages, this is sort of like a bartender refusing to serve liquor. Did she suddenly convert? Did she miss the day of training about the booze? This story sounds very suspicious.
In principle this sounds not so different from the county clerk in Kentucky getting punished for sticking to religious principles when they conflict with her job.