Muslims charge discrimination at Whirlpool plant in La Vergne
By ANITA WADHWANI
Staff Writer
Managers at the Whirlpool Corp. plant in La Vergne entered restrooms to
ensure that Muslim workers were not praying and yanked scarves off women's
heads, workers at the factory claim in a religion discrimination
lawsuit.Sixteen current and former workers of the refrigerator and
air-conditioning factory in Rutherford County filed the suit this week,
seeking $310,000 in damages and a court order forcing the company to
''reasonably accommodate'' the workers' religious practices, as required by
law.Tom Kline, a spokesman at Whirlpool's corporate headquarters in Benton
Harbor, Mich., would not comment on the lawsuit, saying, ''We do have a
policy of not discussing the specific lawsuits that are in progress.''A
Washington, D.C., Muslim civil rights group is assisting the workers, most of
whom are Somali immigrants and Nashville residents.The Council on
American-Islamic Relations has heard complaints from workers at the Whirlpool
plant for the past five years, spokeswoman Hodan Hassan said.''We tried to
mediate with Whirlpool but, again, received a letter saying they wouldn't
deal with us, only the EEOC,'' she said, referring to the U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, which hears complaints about workplace
discrimination.The experience of former worker Siyad Dahir was the impetus
for the suit this week, Hassan said. She said Dahir was fired in March last
year when she spoke to supervisors about allowing breaks for prayer. Muslim
religious practice calls for prayer five times per day.Dahir was not
available for comment yesterday.Dahir's experience was chronicled in a report
describing alleged anti-Muslim incidents nationwide that was released by
Hassan's group Tuesday, the day after the lawsuit was filed.Anti-Muslim
incidents have increased threefold in the past year, the report states.The
group has created a legal defense fund to help people alleging civil rights
violations since Sept. 11, but that will not be used in this case. Lawyers
are handling it on a contingency-fee basis, Hassan said.Hassan said that
complaints about anti-Muslim incidents in the La Vergne factory had predated
the terrorist attacks.In 1998, the organization first tried to mediate a
dispute between plant managers and Muslim employees but was turned down by
the company, she said.That's a year before published reports described the
company's newly launched English as a Second Language program for workers,
who now number about 2,000. In 1997, the plant was recognized by the
Tennessee Labor Conference for its efforts at promoting labor harmony.The
company also reportedly instituted religious-sensitivity training and began
serving more chicken and non-meat entrees in its cafeteria because most
practicing Muslims do not eat pork.More than half of Whirlpool's 60,000
workers worldwide do not have a North American cultural background, Kline
said.No court date has been set in the case.
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