A Kansas City woman who converted from Christianity to Islam has been awarded $5 million in punitive damages by a jury who found the telecommunications giant AT&T created a “hostile work environment” after her conversion, according to a judge’s order issued Friday.
Susann Bashir, a 41-year-old married mother, sued AT&T unit Southwestern Bell for what she said was a pattern of offensive and discriminatory conduct by her supervisors that began when she converted to Islam in 2005, six years after she started working for the company as a network technician.
After Bashir started wearing a religious head scarf known as a hijab, and attending Friday mosque services, her managers and co-workers called her names including “terrorist,” and told her she was going to hell, said her attorney Amy Coopman.
A manager repeatedly told her to remove her hijab, insulted her for wearing it, and once physically grabbed Bashir and tried to rip the hijab off her head, according to the suit.
Bashir complained to human resources and then filed a formal complaint alleging discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and was subsequently fired in 2010.
After several days of hearing testimony and deliberation, a jury in Jackson County Circuit Court on Thursday ordered AT&T to pay $5 million in punitive damages on top of $120,000 in actual damages.
AT&T spokesman Marty Richter said the company would appeal.
“AT&T is a nationally recognized leader in workforce diversity and inclusion, something in which we take great pride. We disagree with the verdict and plan to appeal,” Richter said.
Bashir’s lawyer said the jury award was “monumental” to Bashir, but said it had little impact on AT&T, a multi-billion-dollar global corporation.
(Source: HuffPost)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
10 Responses
That’s good news. As members of a non-Christian religious minority that also dresses funny, we should be overjoyed that a lcoal jury in suburban Kansas (an overwhelmingly Christian area) awarded damages. This is evidence that the traditional religious divides based on theology are being replaced by one based on “peoples of faith” vs secularists.
Yes, this is a case where our interests and the Moslems’ are aligned. Nobody should have to put up with this sort of nonsense.
I’m not sure what your so excited about when this more then anything shows insanity of the court system!
#3proud orthodox jew: can you explain what you mean by “insanity?” As another “POJ” out there, I can say that the vast majority of my work experience has been positive. There have been some minor “bumps in the road,” but most were successfully navigated.
However, I had a period of time with a boss who was horrible. Snide remarks about Shabbos, Jews, and other related things, within the context of a harassing environment, led me to consult with lawyers. The only reason it didn’t go further is that I got an offer for a transfer that, in the end, worked out well (and she left a few months later anyway). However, it was the most stressful business environment I had ever had to endure.
I agree with Milhouse that in this case, the interests of Muslims and Jews are aligned.
The court “ordered AT&T to pay $5 million in punitive damages on top of $120,000 in actual damages.”
That doesn’t sound right. $120K for ripping “the hijab off her head”?
Shows that U.S. is a country that protects it’s minorities. We are very lucky and should be thankful for living in such a Country.
Rest assured, no jury in this country would award a Jew for having his Yarmulke knocked off.
#7 – what country are you referring to (sounds like France, but they don’t have juries for civil actions)
$5- the logic would be that the actions would cost her job, so perhaps wages for a year or two was the basic for the actual damages
I agree with Dov29. The same minorities that identify with a Muslims, do not identify with Jews at all. Don’t forget, the Muslims with their head-coverings go to public school& are friends with other minorities who make up the juries.
All you naive do-gooders! You don’t realize how powerful the Arabs & Muslims are becoming here in America.The college campuses & media is so pro-Arab & anti-Jews.I was fired from a brokerage company by a manager who had hired 8 Arabs & fired me, a frum mother.They only hire Muslims these days-under the guise of diversity. While this AT&t manager
probably likes Jews. I would find it offensive & terrifying to work with people dressed in Muslim garb after the Sep. 11
attacks. These Arabs are big trouble-makers, always looking to sue & vilify & kill us infidels.