In a legal showdown, a US federal agency has taken restaurant giant Chipotle to court, leveling accusations of religious harassment centered on a shocking incident at a Kansas branch in US state of Missouri. The manager reportedly forcibly removed an employee's hijab, a headscarf worn by Muslim women, media reports said.
The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a US agency responsible for enforcing and administering federal laws that prohibit discrimination in employment. It also checks for any sort of harassment in the workplace.
The lawsuit alleged that in 2021, an assistant manager at a Chipotle branch in Lenexa, Kansas, repeatedly harassed the employee by demanding that she reveal her hair, despite her repeated refusals. The situation escalated over several weeks until the manager physically grabbed and partially removed her hijab.
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The EEOC's complaint asserted that the manager's persistent and "offensive" requests for the employee to remove her hijab, along with his attempt to forcibly remove it, created a "hostile" working environment based on religion. The agency further argued that these actions were "unwelcome, intentional, and severe", all of which are in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.
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