On October 2, 2012, a Muslim employee of a Seattle-area medical center contacted CAIR-WA to report that he does not have access to an appropriate space for prayer in his workplace.His employer has provided a “quiet room” that is set aside for employee use; however that room is very small and often used by others for quiet conversation or other purposes which prevent its use for prayer. As a result, the man has often had to skip prayers after running out of time while waiting for the room to become available on his breaks.

On one occasion when this happened, the man decided to use the men’s locker room for prayer rather than skip prayer altogether. In the midst of praying, a security guard interrupted and angrily told the man that he was not permitted to use the locker room for religious purposes. This put the man in a very difficult position. He was in need of an adequate place to perform his religiously mandated prayers, but did not want to risk retaliation that may endanger his job, which may result from requesting his legal right to reasonable accommodations for his religious observances.

At this point, he decided to contact CAIR-WA. Understanding his fears and having worked with similar cases in the past, we immediately drafted a letter to the man’s employer.

Click here to read the full letter sent by CAIR-WA

In the letter we explained the religious requirement of practicing Muslims to pray five times daily and clarified the religious accommodations requirement for employers as outlined in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . We also recognized and extended our appreciation for the medical center’s previous attempt to meet the needs of its employees via the quiet room, then explained that our desire was to approach this situation in a spirit of cooperation. After reviewing our letter, the Muslim man signed a release form for CAIR-WA to advocate on his behalf and the letter was sent to his employer.

We have since received a positive reply from the medical center, whose Human Resources representative has now met with the Muslim man and are in the process of working out a mutually agreeable resolution. When a resolution is reached, the medical center has agreed to provide CAIR-WA with a copy of the agreement in writing.

Workplace religious accommodations regarding prayer, beards, and religious attire represent a significant number of the cases that are reported to CAIR-WA. We are glad to have successfully opened up dialogue between this man and his employer in a cooperative, respectful manner that will end in a satisfactory solution for all parties. Until this result is achieved, CAIR-WA will continue to stay in contact with him and monitor the outcome of our combined efforts.

Take action

Has your employer or potential employer denied accommodations for your religious observances? Tell us your story by e-mailing us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or calling us at 206.367.4081.  Each complaint we receive enables us to not just resolve your particular case but to work with employers to put in place company policies to ensure that other current or future Muslim employees are provided reasonable accommodations as required by federal law.

Learn about your rights in the workplace here: www.cairwa.org/know-your-rights