This is beyond batty:
BERKELEY, Ill. — Safoorah Khan had taught middle school math for only nine months in this tiny Chicago suburb when she made an unusual request. She wanted three weeks off for a pilgrimage to Mecca.
The school district, faced with losing its only math lab instructor during the critical end-of-semester marking period, said no. Khan, a devout Muslim, resigned and made the trip anyway.
Justice Department lawyers examined the same set of facts and reached a different conclusion: that the school district’s decision amounted to outright discrimination against Khan. They filed an unusual lawsuit, accusing the district of violating her civil rights by forcing her to choose between her job and her faith.
What on earth is wrong with these people?
Living in a place called Berkeley makes you crazy?
The school should be glad she didn't ask for every Friday off.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseChange Mecca to Fatima or Jerusalem or whatever and guess what the outcome would have been?
Would the Justice Dept then have intervened?
And that's a rhetorical question.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI should claim that my religion entitles me to free candy, and sue my employer.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseTo answer your (rhetorical) question, Jonah - there's a whole lot wrong with the Obama/Holder DOJ...and the entire federal government for that matter. Unfortunately, they aren't kidding.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThere is nothing "wrong" with them - they are just single mindedly pursuing goals that are anathema to the foundations of our Republic. We should accept it at face value and reject the goals loudly and unambiguously. DOJ is a criminal organization now.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSomeone tell me why she couldn't do her pilgrimage during the summer when school is out?
It's not like effn teachers don't get enough time off, fer chrissake.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis is what happens when lawyers from Berkeley, California meet the real world of Berkeley, Illinois.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMy understanding is that it's every Muslim's duty to make the pilgrimage once in a lifetime. It is also my understanding that the proper time for the pilgrimage moves with the moon and that sooner or later the preferred time for the pilgrimage occurs during summer vacation.
In other words, this teacher's claim is total bs.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRidiculous...the obligation to make the Hajj is once during one's lifetime. Can't let the facts get in the way of dhimmitude, however!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI agree it sounds goofy, but it's not quite as bad as it looks on first glance.
(1) The EEOC also ruled in the teacher's favor.
(2) I think she may have reasonably believed that her religion required her to make the Pilgrimage or lose her job.
Apparently, Ayatollah Sistani, the highest ranking cleric of Shi'a Islam, has ruled that the first year you have the means of making Hajj, you have to go, even if that means losing your job, unless losing your job would cause you to renege on a debt. See ruling 2048, here:
External Link
So if you grant that (1) she belongs to a real religion, (2) her religion actually requires her to take this pilgrimage this year, job or no, then it's a little tougher -- it becomes a factual question about whether it's reasonable for the school to get a sub on 4 months notice, and I don't think you can answer that without knowing more.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCivil rights for some, but certainly not for all - especially Christians or others who do not fit into the protected class du jour.
Maybe it's time to replace the word "justice" in the name of this department. Contest, anyone?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt didn't happen in California, but it did happen in Berkeley! Liberalism kills.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWorse yet a devout Muslim need only make Haj once in his life. She certainly could have planned a vacation the next year and arranged with the school before the year started.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhere does it stop? What if she worked for Deloitte & Touche and asked for three weeks off during income tax season? Would DT be discriminating against her then? Seriously?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI have just opened my new church - The Perpetual Juvenile Misfit and Goodtime Emporium and Tabernacle. If you need an excused absence from your boss, just give me a call! I would say - are you kidding me? But what's the point.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou know Jonah, you might argue there's nothing "wrong" with this person. It's a logical response to a once-proud but now-accomodationist, limp-wristed culture that has shown every willingness to roll into a fetal position and cave to the whiny demands of any "victim" class.
NR's former editor nailed it when he dubbed them "the Ethnic Grievance Industry." And thanks to the left among us, we'll wave the white flag before a single shot is fired every time.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI could have sworn this case had been laughed out of court years ago, but alas, no such luck.
On the plus side, a ruling in her favor could go far towards supporting my plea for federal protection of "Pants Optional" workdays.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIs Jonah seriously asking what's wrong with these people? We all know what's wrong with them. They're leftists. They make destructive decisions because they are trying to destroy. That's what leftists do. How can anyone be surprised?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse@texan59 - between your "church", and Wisconsin doctors, no one need go to work ever again!
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse@ texan59 -- Does your church have a web site yet?
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