BRILLION, WI (WTAQ) – For the first time in its 83-year history, a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will be filed against Ariens Company over its break policy.
That’s according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who held a press conference in Green Bay Monday. It featured officials from CAIR, along with the 7 Muslim workers who were fired by the Brillion-based manufacturer for violating their break policy to pray.
“These breaks that they were taking were very similar to the type of breaks other employees were granted for using the bathroom,” said CAIR-Minnesota Executive Director Jaylani Hussein. “Their supervisors did not make a major fuss about it. Some of their supervisors even had prayer apps to know when the time of the prayer starts.”
According to CAIR officials, the goal is to get the affected workers their jobs back and receive back pay from Ariens.
“Many of the people who are involved, who are affected with these firings and decisions that Ariens has made have shared with us that one of the main reasons they’ve come here is for these jobs,” explained Hussein. “And they want to continue living in Green Bay as long as they can find jobs where their religious requirements are allowed.”
WTAQ spoke with an Ariens official Monday afternoon following the press conference.
“It’s certainly disappointing news that a group based in Washington D.C. is filing an EEOC complaint,” said Ariens Corporate Communications Manager Ann Stilp. “We have had Muslim employees working here for over 9 years, we currently have more than 30 Muslim employees who continue to work here and we continue to accommodate them with prayer rooms.”
Stilp denies that they were discriminating against the Muslim workers, along with CAIR’s stance that supervisors didn’t have an issue with the breaks.
“This issue really came up from the floor,” said Stilp. “There were challenges at the local supervision level and there were definitely employees who perceive those employees leaving to pray as a fairness issue.”
More than 50 Somali immigrant Muslims recently protested the company’s enforcement of the break policy. 14 of those employees resigned over the issue, while the remaining did return to work. But the seven workers were fired for continually taking unscheduled breaks to pray.
“We understood that this was a decision for people,” Stilp said. “We brought in extra interpreters, we took extra time with meetings, we had group meetings, and we had individual meetings with supervisors. So we certainly understand that there is a language barrier and that there are cultural differences here.”
According to CAIR Civil Rights Staff Attorney Maha Sayed, Ariens is violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It requires employers to accommodate sincerely held religious beliefs.
