SCOTUS Sympathetic To Hijab-Wearing Woman In Discrimination Case

The Supreme Court Justices all but openly mocked the argument from Abercrombie & Fitch’s lawyers that the company could not tell that a female Muslim prospective employee wearing a black headscarf held religious views. Justice Samuel Alito cracked a joke about “a Sikh man wearing a turban,” “a Hasidic man wearing a hat,” and “a Catholic nun in a habit” being similar points of reference: “[D]o you think … that those people have to say, we just want to tell you, we’re dressed this way for a religious reason. We’re not just trying to make a fashion statement?” The prospective employee filed a Title VII discrimination case after the company refused to hire her, saying her headscarf was not in keeping with its employee dress code.