After years of ongoing harassment and discrimination in a Puget Sound area school district, a local Muslim man found relief from years of suffering, after he finally saw his complaints fully addressed last month, July, 2012, with the assistance of CAIR-WA and an attorney in CAIR-WA's pro bono network.

The man, who supports his family of five by working two jobs as a custodian, first contacted CAIR-WA in 2009 when he was forbidden to pray or break fast at work during Ramadan.   

The man reported that he had been threatened by his supervisor and told that he would be "in big trouble" if he ate (to break his fast at sun-down) or prayed in the workplace. He also said that his peers were told by his supervisors to 'watch' him and write down any times they saw him eating or praying in the workplace.  Finally, the man reported that his recent performance reviews had included unsubstantiated negative remarks.

For many months, fearful of losing his job which supported his family, their health insurance, all in addition to the constant harassment at work, the man was severely traumatized, broke down in tears on many occasions, had trouble sleeping, and was seeing a counselor in order to contain his emotional suffering.  Of course these issues did not just affect him but his entire household, which had to suffer along with him. 

In December 2009, CAIR-WA sent a complaint letter to the man's employer - the Superintendent of the school district.   

Click here to read a redacted version of the letter.

In the letter, CAIR-WA explained the importance of prayer and fasting during Ramadan, and the necessity of providing religious accommodations, according to federal law, for employees who need to break fast during work hours.   

Also in the letter, CAIR-WA requested several actions to be taken by the school district, including a written apology to the man, monetary compensation for harassment and mistreatment, providing reasonable religious accommodations, clarifying the district's policies, and instituting CAIR-WA's Workplace Sensitivity and Diversity Training.

The school district initially responded stating that this was simply a case of miscommunication, that they could not issue a written apology, that they could only provide religious accommodations moving forward, would 'look into' incorporating some training about Islam and Muslims into their regular annual training, but would not provide monetary compensation to the man or shift him to another school within the school district. 

In 2011, CAIR-WA contacted a well-experienced employment attorney within its network, Jon Rosen of the Rosen Law Firm, who joined us on a pro bono basis in taking a case as significant as this and demand the rest of the items on behalf of the man.  Mr. Rosen has worked on several other cases involving CAIR-WA clients. Provided that the man worked two full-time jobs and still struggled to provide for his family, the attorney agreed to negotiate a settlement between the man and the school district, a very time-intensive project, free of charge.  

After months of meetings and letters, the man was awarded all requests in his proposed settlement including $15,000 in compensation to the man, coverage of legal fees for the attorney, immediate religious accommodations provided, a mandatory diversity training to be provided for the school district by CAIR-WA, a month off from work so the man and his family could spend time with their extended family overseas. 

The CAIR-WA team expresses its heart-felt congratulations to the man and his family on this victory, and encourages others facing discrimination and harassment to come forward with their cases so that we can work to addresses individual cases and work to stamp out systematic policy and training gaps that perpetuate anti-Muslim discrimination! CAIR-WA's civil rights services are provided at zero cost to our clients.