Muslim flight attendant: I was suspended for not serving alcohol

[Gaius46]

Yes. She does not have the right to refuse to do parts of the job she willingly accepted and be catered to. End of story. If she doesn't want to do her job, she should find a different one.

Title VII says otherwise.

 

[CanadaJohn]

Actually no. If you had read the article before spouting your usual nonsense you'd know that she converted to the faith after taking the job.

Actually, no. If you had understood my comments, then you'd know that when she converted had nothing to do with her understanding of the requirements of the job before she took it, which remains different from the Davis matter, your usual nonsense notwithstanding.

 

[Shadowless]

Yes, she should be suspended. I don't care what faith you claim, if you can't do the functions of the job, get a new job. Accommodation's are going to be very messy as this will become a larger and larger issue.

 

[Chomsky]

Under Federal labor law employers are required to accommodate employee religious practices unless doing so represents an undue hardship to the company.

A little more background I gleaned from CNN when the story first broke:

Apparently this is a very small carrier, with a substantial number of small flights having only a solitary flight attendant.

Also, there were complaints from a coworker stating her lack of serving alcohol was causing a hardship amongst her coworkers.

I'm not judging yet, but wanted to get this other (perhaps relevant) info out there.

 

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Title VII says otherwise.

No, it doesn't. She is not being discriminated against. She is refusing to do her job in the first place.

 

[beefheart]

Do you think it was right to suspend this Muslim woman for refusing to serve alcohol because it was against her faith?

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. -- A Muslim flight attendant filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming she was suspended from her job for not serving alcohol, which is against her religious beliefs, CBS Detroit station WWJ-AM reports.

Lena Masri, an attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan, said Charee Stanley followed management's directions, working out an arrangement with her coworkers to accommodate passenger requests for alcohol.

However, Masri said, ExpressJet Airlines put Stanley on administrative leave after another attendant filed "an Islamophobic complaint" that referenced Stanley's head scarf.
Muslim flight attendant accuses ExpressJet Airlines of suspending her for not serving alcohol - CBS News

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I had the same thing happen when I worked at the airlines, but it was a 7th day Adventist. She knew the duties and responsibilities of the job, she signed the job description, she had no case. Part of the job is serving drinks, and it is not a reasonable accommodation. When you take a job, you have to inform the management of any reasonable accommodations you need, my person had no case, neither does this person.

 

[Chomsky]

I had the same thing happen when I worked at the airlines, but it was a 7th day Adventist. She knew the duties and responsibilities of the job, she signed the job description, she had no case. Part of the job is serving drinks, and it is not a reasonable accommodation. When you take a job, you have to inform the management of any reasonable accommodations you need, my person had no case, neither does this person.

So, how was the problem resolved?

 

[Kobie]

Do you think it was right to suspend this Muslim woman for refusing to serve alcohol because it was against her faith?

Yes, I do. If you refuse to do your job, for whatever reason, then it's time to find a new one.

 

[Gaius46]

No, it doesn't. She is not being discriminated against. She is refusing to do her job in the first place.

Discrimination has nothing to do with it. Federal law requires employers to accommodate religious beliefs as long it doesn't cause an undue hardship on the firm. Because of Federal law I am compelled to try to accomodate the fact that my observant Jewish staff cannot work on Saturday despite the fact that we are a 24x7 shop and were long before they were hired. It requires me to try to accommodate the fact that my muslim employees need extra time at lunch on Friday because of their prayer requirements.

It is not a discrimination issue. It is an accommodation issue.

 

[Kobie]

Enough said, do your damn job. It was wrong to suspend her, she should have been fired on the spot.

To be fair to the airline, oftentimes in union contracts termination usually requires a prerequisite suspension. This very well could be a "suspension-with-termination-pending."

 

[Kobie]

It is even worst. She already had the job, and served alcohol for two years before "discovering" she couldn't.

Muslim flight attendant suspended for not serving alcohol

Doesn't sound like she thought that whole conversion thing through very well if she didn't know Muslims weren't allowed to handle alcohol.

 

[Kobie]

I think a judge should issue a court order. If she still fails to comply, I think she should be thrown in jail until she agrees to do so.

She knew that was part of her job. It's not easy to fire her. Court order. Jail. ASAP.

Nonsense. There is no need for the courts to get involved in this, unlike the Kim Davis case.

 

[Kobie]

I am amazed she was even allowed to wear her Habib on the plane....many would feel uncomfortable and some decide to take a different flight.

Myself included.

It's a hijab, not a habib, FFS.

 

[Gaius46]

A little more background I gleaned from CNN when the story first broke:

Apparently this is a very small carrier, with a substantial number of small flights having only a solitary flight attendant.

Also, there were complaints from a coworker stating her lack of serving alcohol was causing a hardship amongst her coworkers.

I'm not judging yet, but wanted to get this other (perhaps relevant) info out there.

Thanks. The law doesn't require employers to bend over backwards to accommodate employees but they are supposed to try.

 

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Discrimination has nothing to do with it. Federal law requires employers to accommodate religious beliefs as long it doesn't cause an undue hardship on the firm. Because of Federal law I am compelled to try to accomodate the fact that my observant Jewish staff cannot work on Saturday despite the fact that we are a 24x7 shop and were long before they were hired. It requires me to try to accommodate the fact that my muslim employees need extra time at lunch on Friday because of their prayer requirements.

It is not a discrimination issue. It is an accommodation issue.

Well, there seems to be a lot of evidence it's not at all reasonable. As someone mentioned, this is a very small crew, and this is causing hardship to her coworkers. Also, cases like this have been ruled as being unreasonable in the past.

A 24/7 shop doesn't have a single employee actually working 24/7. Having them work days that aren't Saturday is not difficult for the employer to arrange. There are going to be some days they don't work anyway.

This employee is outrightly refusing to do the job even when she is the only one who can. That is not reasonable.

 

[Kobie]

Discrimination has nothing to do with it. Federal law requires employers to accommodate religious beliefs as long it doesn't cause an undue hardship on the firm. Because of Federal law I am compelled to try to accomodate the fact that my observant Jewish staff cannot work on Saturday despite the fact that we are a 24x7 shop and were long before they were hired. It requires me to try to accommodate the fact that my muslim employees need extra time at lunch on Friday because of their prayer requirements.

It is not a discrimination issue. It is an accommodation issue.

It does.

 

[Chomsky]

Thanks. The law doesn't require employers to bend over backwards to accommodate employees but they are supposed to try.

Well, there seems to be a lot of evidence it's not at all reasonable. As someone mentioned, this is a very small crew, and this is causing hardship to her coworkers. Also, cases like this have been ruled as being unreasonable in the past.

A 24/7 shop doesn't have a single employee actually working 24/7. Having them work days that aren't Saturday is not difficult for the employer to arrange. There are going to be some days they don't work anyway.

This employee is outrightly refusing to do the job even when she is the only one who can. That is not reasonable.

Exactly!

it would seem the only aspect to be ruled upon, is: "Is it reasonable to accommodate her?"

 

[Chagos]

Yup, completely correct. If she knew the good book the way she's supposed to, she'd know she can even drink the stuff herself if she's in any way pressured by non believers.

Of course nobody demanded that of her at all.

Apply with Emirates, but that won't help either. They serve alcohol as well.

 

[mike2810]

"Charee Stanley has worked at ExpressJet for three years, and made the decision to stop serving alcohol to customers upon converting to Islam in the last twelve months"

"However after coworkers came forward to the company to voice their concerns, Ms Stanley was told by airline bosses last week that she had been suspended."

Seems the other flight attendants had concerns of the system of them having to fill orders Charee refused.

Muslim flight attendant 'suspended by airline after refusing to serve alcohol' claims she's a victim of discrimination - Mirror Online

 

[tecoyah]

It's a hijab, not a habib, FFS.

Oh My....I'm sorry.......NOT!

 

[Kobie]

Oh My....I'm sorry.......NOT!

A "not" joke? Did I roll out of bed this morning and land in 1992?

 

[Chomsky]

"Charee Stanley has worked at ExpressJet for three years, and made the decision to stop serving alcohol to customers upon converting to Islam in the last twelve months"

"However after coworkers came forward to the company to voice their concerns, Ms Stanley was told by airline bosses last week that she had been suspended."

Seems the other flight attendants had concerns of the system of them having to fill orders Charee refused.

Muslim flight attendant 'suspended by airline after refusing to serve alcohol' claims she's a victim of discrimination - Mirror Online

Interesting that she was given a year of administrative leave.

It would seem the airline is trying to play fair to allow the case to get resolved, one way or another.

 

[disneydude]

This is not directly analogous to the Kim Davis issue in that Davis was elected and took her oath of office prior to the Supreme Court ruling changing Davis's duties to include issuing SSM licenses. This flight attendant, presumably, knew that serving alcohol was part of her job duties when signing on.

Additionally, I find it hard to believe that part of her training for the job didn't include pushing around a liquor cart and serving/preparing alcohol drinks. I can only presume that she participated in that part of the training but refuses to do so after being formally hired.

It's not surprising that with a judiciary that is comfortable with creating rights, people will attempt to push the envelop as much as they can. In addition, with the activist civil bar in the US, this kind of thing is to be expected.

LOL....if she was an evangelical Christian you would be singing a different tune.

 

[Quag]

Do you think it was right to suspend this Muslim woman for refusing to serve alcohol because it was against her faith?

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. -- A Muslim flight attendant filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming she was suspended from her job for not serving alcohol, which is against her religious beliefs, CBS Detroit station WWJ-AM reports.

Lena Masri, an attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan, said Charee Stanley followed management's directions, working out an arrangement with her coworkers to accommodate passenger requests for alcohol.

However, Masri said, ExpressJet Airlines put Stanley on administrative leave after another attendant filed "an Islamophobic complaint" that referenced Stanley's head scarf.
Muslim flight attendant accuses ExpressJet Airlines of suspending her for not serving alcohol - CBS News

snip


​

As I understand it she told them when hiring that she would not serve alcohol.
If that is true then no she should not have been fired. What should have happened is she should not have been hired in the first place.

 

[beefheart]

So, how was the problem resolved?

Hell, that was a long time ago, I think she quit.

This current case is even tougher, she if flying on the regional jets. Some of them only have one flight attendant (50 seaters). So...there is no accommodation the airline can make. She has zero case.