Halima Suspended over Dress, Accepts New Job

TORONTO: A Muslim woman who filed a human rights complaint after being suspended from her airport screener job for wearing a skirt deemed “too long” agreed Wednesday to trade in her uniform for casual attire and a new job.

But the measure is only an interim solution in the case, the Teamsters Union said.

In a statement, Halima Muse's union said security firm Garda "has agreed to offer the screener a full-time administrative position in civilian attire at her previous salary."

"She will be paid full back pay for the time she lost due to this issue."

It added "she will remain in the administrative position until the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) can evaluate its policy on uniforms."

Muse, 33, was suspended in August for being out of uniform after wearing a homemade skirt identical in color and fabric to Garda uniforms, except that it was hemmed a few inches above her ankles rather than a few inches below her knees.

Earlier this week, she filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission claiming Garda and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority had discriminated against her on the basis of her religion.

The five-year veteran screener at Pearson International Airport in Toronto had felt the standard issue skirt was just too short and pants "were not modest enough and showed the shape of her body," her lawyer Jo-Anne Pickel told AFP.

Earrlier, Halima Muse, a practicing Muslim, was laid off without pay by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority until she agrees to wear a standard uniform that includes either slacks or a skirt that falls at the knee.

Not willing to oblige by the rules, she took matters into her own hands and filed a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission saying she was the target of religious discrimination, since Islam instructs that she dress modestly.

Muse claims that she's never had any problems with her employer in the five years that she's worked there, until now. She told media that her decision to sport the longer skirt was not a matter of personal style, it was about dignity.

In a statement she made to the Commission, Muse said she never liked the uniform pants that she used to wear because they showed the shape of her body. So she asked the person in charge of work attire for a skirt that's longer than the standard one, but was told it didn't exist. So she went out and bought material matching in color and made her own skirt that reached her ankle.

For six months, nobody said anything to her about the garment until a manager told her she had to conform to regulations. She was suspended for one day on Aug. 11, then for three days on Aug. 15 followed by a subsequent five-day suspension and then was sent home indefinitely on Aug. 29.

A single mother from Somalia with a teenage son, Muse has been out of a job for the last three months. In that time, she's racked up debt on her credit card and has been borrowing money from relatives, according to a media report.

She said the federal employment insurance agency has rejected her application because she's not officially unemployed. She's allowed to go back to work as long as she conforms to regulations that she considers to be a violation of her religious rights.