Ex McDonald's employee claims she was sexually harassed for being Muslim, forced to pray in dirty stockroom
A Muslim woman who used to work for McDonald's has made claims that she was sexually harassed and subjected to religious discrimination. The woman, Diamond Powell, used to work for a McDonald's franchisee in Maryland and has filed a lawsuit against her former employer, Susdewitt Management LLC of Lanham, Maryland, on Thursday, August 13. Powell is being backed by attorneys from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The Morgan State University graduate started working for the company in 2016. They operated two McDonald's locations at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Powell was a Christian when she first began working for them and in February of 2017, she converted to Islam and started sporting a hijab at work.
Powell's religious beliefs made praying five times a day at prescribed times mandatory and a general manager initially did grant Powell's request to take short prayer breaks during her shifts, according to her lawsuit. "Her prayer breaks lasted no longer than a typical bathroom break," the suit says. A manager working at the facility allegedly asked her to "take that hoodie off" referring to her hijab. Another manager told her, "You don't have to wait for god to wake up for you to pray."
While the grant for prayers during shifts was granted, the general manager allegedly prohibited Powell from praying in a quiet spot at the airport and instead directed her to pray in a dirty stockroom. She continued to pray outside the restaurant after which the general manager revoked her request to take a prayer break, saying, "God will understand", according to the lawsuit as reported by Daily Mail.
"By doing so, the general manager forced Powell to choose between continuing her employment with McDonald's or sacrificing her sincerely-held religious beliefs," the suit says. Powell resigned from her job in April 2018 and her suit accuses Susdewitt Management of violating the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Susdewitt Management's owner Isaac Green has responded to Powell's lawsuit. Green has disputed the lawsuit's "characterization" but at the same time said the company is reviewing the allegations and that they'd "respond accordingly."
"We pride ourselves on our diverse workforce and we have policies in place to provide a welcoming workplace and to respect the accommodations employees may need for religious reasons," Green said in a statement provided by a McDonald's corporate spokeswoman.
Powell in her lawsuit claimed that she was sexually harassed at work with several managers and co-workers asking her if she was a virgin. It also claims that she was at the receiving end of sexually explicit remarks made by a shift manager. "No Muslim woman should ever, ever experience what I went through, and I hope this lawsuit will help other Muslim women," Powell said on Thursday, August 13, during an online news conference with her attorneys.
Zainab Chaudry, director of CAIR's Maryland office, said the group has noticed an increase in the number of incidents where Muslims have experienced hostile work environments because of their faith. "Unfortunately, this disturbing case is a glaring reminder of the challenges that Muslim employees often face within the workplace," she said.