Safoorah Khan, a middle school teacher since 2007 in a small suburb of Chicago, applied in 2008 for a 19-day unpaid leave of absence during the end-of-semester marking period.
As the only math lab instructor during a critical time of the school year, her request to vacate her job for the 19 days was turned down. In response to the denial, she basically thumbed her nose at the school district in disregard for the predictament that they were in. Leaving the students to whom she had obligations, she resigned in order to go on a religious outing at that time in a foreign country.
When she came back, she filed an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint against the school charging that they discriminated against her because of her religion. Khan wants her job back, along with back pay and other damages for the distress she endured.
The U.S. Justice Department is on her side as they filed a complaint in federal court stating "because Berkeley School District denied her a religious accommodation, the district compelled Ms. Khan to choose between her job and her religious beliefs, and thus forced her discharge." They claim that by refusing Khan's time-off request, the school violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. According to Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for civil rights,
“This was a profoundly personal request by a person of faith. He compared the case to protecting “the religious liberty that our forefathers came to this country for.”
The purpose behind the lawsuit is to prevent school districts from discriminating against teachers on the basis of religion, which makes one wonder why the school hired her in the first place if they were intolerant to Muslims.
Could be the problem is not her religion but her choice to abandon her job during the school year for a non-emergency or, according to the school, for a purpose "not related to her professional duties."
In view of Attorney General Eric Holder's calling for the protection of civil rights of Muslims a "top priority," one might suspect that suing on Khan’s behalf is perhaps not out of justice and fair play but is out of the Obama administration's campaign to generously reach out to Muslims and win hearts wherever cries from them are heard.
Eric Holder refused to prosecute Black Panthers for thuggery and voter intimidation because focus on such a case demeans his people.
3/11/2011, Yakima: The Yakama Nation has sued the federal government over an FBI raid....The lawsuit names U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller and several unidentified FBI agents."
DOJ Enforcing Sharia: "...spread the provably fraudulent assertion that Islamophobia is omnipresent and that America is a cauldron of anti-Muslim bigotry.... force the American legal system to define anything which even inferentially connotes disapproval or criticism of Islam and its "final prophet" Mohammed as a hate crime."
October 2011 update: $75,000 Settlement for Muslim teacher denied 19 days unpaid leave for Hajj
Comment from Huffington Post: 09:37 AM on 10/28/2011 below:
"Here are the facts:
Safoorah Khan had been on the job for less than one year.
She requested leave weeks before the final exams.
She was the only teacher qualified to conduct the exams in the school district.
The school district denied her request, there was not sufficient time to find a suitable substitute as final exams are a critical time for a teacher to be present.
Safoorah Khan quit her job and filed suit against the school district.
Eric Holder gets involved and brings the full force of the DOJ against our public school system.
The school district pays $75,000 out of its budget to Safoorah Khan.
The truth is she could have waited and scheduled her Hajj for the following year when it would be held eleven days earlier. Then she could have taken off without conflicting with final exams. Is this what the Obama administration claims as a victory?"
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