Majority of Supreme Court judges back Muslim woman who was denied job at Abercrombie & Fitch because of her head scarf
- Samantha Elauf arrived for an interview for a 'model' position at an Abercrombie store in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2008 wearing a black headscarf
- Even though she impressed staff, her headscarf conflicted with the company's 'Look Policy' and the store decided not to employ her
- Abercrombie has fought her employment discrimination claim because it says she never asked the company to relax its policy
- On Wednesday, Elauf took her complaint to the Supreme Court and the majority of justices appeared to back her
- A decision will be made in the suit by June
A majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices have signaled support for a Muslim woman who was denied a job at an Abercrombie & Fitch because she wore a head scarf.
On Wednesday, the nine justices heard a one-hour argument in an appeal brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of Samantha Elauf.
Elauf, who was denied a sales job at an Abercrombie Kids store in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2008 when she was 17, attended the Supreme Court in Washington for the hearing with her mother.
It appeared the court's four liberal justices are likely to vote in Elauf's favor, while at least one of the court's conservatives, Justice Samuel Alito, seems set to follow suit.
A ruling is due by the end of June.
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Fight: Samantha Elauf stands outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday after U.S. Justices heard how she was denied a job because of her headscarf. The justices appeared to side with her
Taking a stand: Elauf leaves the court with her mother, Majda Elauf, and P. David Lopez, General Counsel of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, who brought the lawsuit on her behalf
The legal question is whether Elauf was required to ask the company to accommodate her religious practice.
Abercrombie & Fitch said she did not ask them to change their policy and so they cannot be sued under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The company said it has previously granted religious accommodations when they have requested.
Elauf was wearing a head scarf, or hijab, at her job interview in 2008 but did not specifically say that, as a Muslim, she wanted the company to give her a religious accommodation.
But the assistant manager who interviewed her assumed she was wearing it for religious reasons. She was impressed by Elauf but when she consulted a manager, they did not give her the job.
The company denied Elauf the job on the grounds that wearing the scarf violated its 'look policy' for members of the sales staff, a policy intended to promote the brand's East Coast collegiate image.
'Discrimination': Elauf, who now works for Urban Outfitters, failed to get a job at an Abercrombie & Fitch store in Oklahoma in 2008, when she was 17, because her headscarf conflicted with their 'look policy'
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the civil rights law requires certain peopleto be treated differently to other applicants if they have areligious requirement.
'They don't have to accommodate a baseball cap. They do have to accommodate a yarmulke,' Ginsburg said, in a reference to the cap worn by some Jewish men.
Justice Samuel Alito said employers like Abercrombie could easily find out if prospective employees need a religious accommodation by simply asking if they are able to abide by work rules.
He noted that Abercrombie had assumed Elauf would wear the head scarf every day simply because she wore it at the interview. 'Maybe she just had a bad hair day,' Alito said.
Other conservative justices were more skeptical about the government's arguments.
Chief Justice John Roberts speculated that putting the burden on the employee to assess whether a religious accommodation is needed 'may promote stereotypes to a far greater degree' by requiring interviewers to inquire about applicants' religious beliefs.
Fighting back: But the company says Elauf did not ask for a religious accommodation to wear the scarf
Support: Demonstrators gather outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday to give Elauf their support
Muslim groups said in a friend-of-the-court brief in supportof Elauf that employment discrimination against Muslims iswidespread in the United States.
Often, the act of a woman wearing a head scarf is what triggers the discrimination, the brief said.
The EEOC has reported that Muslims file more employment claims about discrimination and the failure to provide religious accommodations than any other religious group.
Groups representing Christians, Jews and Sikhs also filed court papers backing Elauf.
The case comes before the top U.S. court at a time when some Western nations are struggling with culture clashes relating to accommodating local Islamic populations. The United States has not, however, faced the same tensions as some European countries including France.
Abercrombie has faced other employee lawsuits, including one in which it agreed in 2004 to pay $40 million to several thousand minority and female plaintiffs who had accused the company of discrimination.
1/4 INCH FINGERNAILS, 'SUNKISSED' HAIR AND NO SWEATERS IN SUMMER: ABERCROMBIE & FITCH'S STRICT 'LOOK POLICY'
The right look: Abercrombie & Fitch is famously strict with the staff it hires and calls them 'models'
Samantha Elauf was applying for a job at an Abercrombie kids store as a 'model' - the term the company uses for its sales staff.
In 2013, Buzzfeed obtained copies of the company's lengthy 'Look Policy', which revealed Abercrombie & Fitch's 'hyper-specific, borderline absurd dress code', the website reported.
The policy is intended to promote the brand's East Coast collegiate image.
'While we respect your individuality, it is important that we maintain a consistent level of dress and grooming that represents what people expect from the Abercrombie & Fitch brand,' it read.
Snippets from the manual showed diagrams of hairstyles, explaining that the company allowed 'sunkissed/subtle highlighting with complementary shading', but it would not accept 'two-tone color' hair or 'chunks of contrasting color'.
Strict: One snippet from the August 2013 policy, obtained by Buzzfeed, shows the rules for hair color
'All hairstyles for men and women should appear neat, clean, natural, kempt and classic,' the manual reads.
'No associate is permitted to wear any extreme hair styles or hair color. Hair styles and hair color should reflect your natural beauty.'
Facial hair is banned, men are not allowed to wear earrings, makeup must also look 'natural' and any colored nail polish is 'unacceptable', according to the guidelines.
Visible tattoos are only allowed if they suit the Abercrombie brand and if they are approved by a supervisor.
'Fingernails should not extend more than 1/4 inch beyond the tip of the finger,' the handbook adds.
Rules: The handbook shows that facial hair is 'unacceptable' and that fingernails must be worn short
While headwear is not allowed, the look policy does say that exemptions can be made for religious and disability reasons, Buzzfeed notes. If an applicant or employee asks for an exception based on these reasons, human resources must be contacted immediately, the handbook says.
As for clothes, employees are encouraged to look smart while displaying their individual style.
'Clothing should also be consistent with the season (e.g. a heavy wool turtleneck sweater should not be worn in 90 degree heat),' the manual added.
'Clothing choices should be clean and classic, not provocative (e.g. tanks should be worn with an undergarment).'
The handbook says that if employees fail to follow the guidelines, they could be fired.
No discrimination: The handbook also points out that it does allow head coverings for religious reasons
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