Nashville probes firing of 30 Dell Somali workers for praying

[NASSIR]

Nashville probes firing of Dell Muslim workers

 

By Eric Auchard

 

 

Fri Mar 11, 2005

 

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A local agency in Nashville, Tennessee, is investigating whether 30 Muslim contract workers were unfairly fired by Dell Inc. for taking unscheduled breaks to pray, a city official said on Thursday.

 

A Dell spokesman said no workers had filed complaints in what was a "misunderstanding" and the company had policies to safeguard religious practices.

 

The temporary employees at Dell's logistics facility in Nashville were fired in early February, according to a preliminary investigation by the human relations commission for the metropolitan region surrounding Nashville.

 

The dispute involved the timing of breaks for sunset prayers by the 30, all Somali immigrants, who were employed by staffing agency Spherion Corp. on a temporary basis at Dell, the world's largest personal computer maker.

 

"The workers were told: 'Choose work or choose faith,'" said Kelvin Jones, executive director of the Metro Human Relations Commission for the greater Nashville area. "They didn't see an option: They chose not to work."

 

Dell spokesman David Frink said, "We had some contract workers who left Dell basically on a misunderstanding of our religious (policies)."

 

He added, "Our long practice has been to accommodate religious belief, including time for prayers."

 

Dell aimed to resolve the issue "beneficially" and several workers have since returned to work at Dell, he said.

 

Dell operations include a major production center in Penang, in the majority Muslim nation of Malaysia, and facilities in Singapore and Bangalore, India, each with large Muslim populations.

 

A spokesman at Spherion, a $2 billion-a-year staffing agency, was not available for comment.

 

Several Somali workers fired from a nearby Whirlpool plant lost a trial on a similar issue last September. The jury decided Whirlpool was within its rights to limit workers' break times so as not to disrupt factory production.

 

Nashville has seen an influx of at least 5,000 immigrants from Somalia over the past decade, Jones said.

[STOIC]

This reminds me of an incident that happened between 30 somalis and selectron corporation in Atlanta.The problem arose over prayer break.CAIR(council of American Islamic Relation) intervened on behalf of the muslims and settled the dispute.The company agreed to contribute to refugees releif agencies and pay some cash.Only in America can you sue and get awarded (i love the legal system)!.

[NASSIR]

Stoic, when was that incident? I have heard of another incident in Washignton DC whereby a group of Taxi drivers were declined of establishing designated places for their prayers at the DC Airport. It was aired on CNN.

[STOIC]

Caamir, i think it was between 2000 and 2001.I don't remember the exact time.Cair has information about the issue, check their website!.

 

 

<"http://www.cair.com/" sources

[NASSIR]

thanks Stoic. I will be checking.

 

This story is taking on a Washigton Post high profile

_____________________________________________

 

Below is a rebuff on Islam Online article,

the urge of rehiring by Council on American Islamic Relations. Very Funny

 

 

Islamic Prayer Demanded in US Workplace

 

 

By Sher Zieve

MichNews.com

Mar 12, 2005

 

 

 

 

In a time when all vestiges of Christianity are being attacked by the Left and their legal representative, the ACLU, the Islamic organization CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) is demanding Muslim prayer-time be allowed in the US workplace and that employers must make accommodations for it. CAIR’s Legal Director Arsalan Iftikhar even had the audacity and arrogance to say: “Given sufficient ‘goodwill’ on the part of all those involved, both the employees’ legal right to reasonable religious accommodation and the employer’s right to maintain smooth operations in the workplace can be maintained.†Huh?

 

 

 

Christianity, the majority religion in the United States, is not allowed even to be spoken of in the workplace, schools and (increasingly) in any public places. Yet, in public schools it is now required that Islam (as a “religionâ€) be taught and Christianity be denied. Are the Left and the ACLU going to back this additional Islamic lunacy? Will workplace Islamic prayer sessions be required of employers and employees, while Christianity is not only disallowed but, shunned?

 

 

 

The latest example of the Islamic movement’s “Muslim prayer at work†occurred at a Dell Computers facility in Nashville, TN. Thirty Muslim workers insisted upon taking Islamic prayer time, during their work shifts and while on the job. The company said “No†as its not legally allowed. The Muslim workers walked off the job and Dell fired them. End of story? Not by a long shot.

 

 

 

Using Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires an employer to accommodate religious practices unless it causes an “undue hardshipâ€, CAIR legal director Iftikhar sent a letter to Dell’s CEO Kevin B. Rollins advising him that the Muslim workers must be rehired pending resolution of the issues involved. Now, that’s a good trick. If Title VII can be used by the Muslims, why didn’t Christians think of it.? Of course, the answer is that the ACLU rules against Christians virtually each and every time they attempt to exert their religious freedoms. Certainly, another looming question is: “Will the ACLU fight as hard for the Muslims as they did (and do) against the Christians?†Only time will tell. However, if Dell Computers agrees to the Islamic demands, Christians should be fully prepared to have their religious rights “reinstatedâ€.

 

 

 

I encourage all Christians to keep close tabs on this situation. It’s imperative that we all vigilantly remain on-watch. Otherwise, we will be waked up one morning in the not-too-distant future, to the strains of a mandatory call to prayer.

 

 

 

Copyright by Sher Zieve

 

Mich News