CAIR: Oklahoma Muslim Sprint Employee Fired After Receiving Hate Call

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) today called for an apology to a Muslim employee of Sprint who was fired after receiving a hate call.

On Saturday September 26, the Muslim customer service employee in Oklahoma City answered a call to Sprint during which the customer asked about the employee's name and then asked if he is Muslim. After being told the Sprint employee is Muslim, the customer allegedly said, "Well I don't want to talk to you, and you can go to hell." The Muslim employee then hung up on the customer and reported the incident to his supervisor.

A week after receiving the hate call, the Muslim worker was terminated without prior notice because he had hung up on the caller. Sprint says it has a policy in which employees are not allowed to hang up on customers under any circumstances.

"It is unconscionable for Sprint to fire an employee merely for reacting as anyone would who received a hate call," said CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi. "We ask that Sprint review its policy on bias-motivated hate calls and to issue an apology to the Muslim employee."

Hashmi noted that a similar case in which an Arab-American restaurant manager was harassed by a customer because of his ethnicity was settled for $165,000 in 2008. In that case, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) stated: "The customer is not always right. Whether committed by customers, co-workers, or management, demeaning insults that target workers' national origin are completely unacceptable. The law requires management to step in and prevent this from happening."

CAIR offers a booklet, "An Employer's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices," designed to help prevent such incidents.

SEE: An Employer's Guide To Islamic Religious Practices

http://www.cair.com/Portals/0/pdf/employment_guide.pdf

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi, 405-248-5853, E-Mail: rhashmi@cair.com; CAIR-OK Chair Michael Aziz Gipson, E-Mail: mgipson@cair.com; CAIR-OK Operations Coordinator Huda Abdul-Razzak, E-Mail: habdulrazzak@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787 or 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

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SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations