LENEXA, KANSAS: Mexican fast-food restaurant chain Chipotle, which is facing a federal lawsuit after a Kansas manager was accused of ripping an employee's hijab, was founded by Steve Ells and is currently headed by CEO and Chairman Brian Niccol.
Since Ells stepped down as the CEO of Chipotle in 2017 and relinquished his role as chairman of the board in 2020, Niccol has been leading the California-headquartered publicly-listed company.
Why is Chipotle facing federal charges?
Chipotle is currently facing a lawsuit by a federal agency after being accused of religious harassment and retaliation.
In the lawsuit filed earlier this week, the assistant manager of Chipotle in Lenexa, Kansas, has been accused of forcibly removing a Muslim female employee’s hijab.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in the lawsuit that in 2021, assistant manager Kevin Silva Garcia harassed the then 19-year-old employee Areej Saifan by repeatedly asking her to show him her hair, which she refused.
The manager has been accused of making “offensive and incessant requests” to Saifan to remove the headscarf. After Saifan’s refusal, Garcia allegedly attempted to physically take it off.
Saifan apparently explained she wore the hijab for religious beliefs every time the manager made the request.
However, on one day in August 2021, Garcia reached out and pulled her hijab himself, partially exposing her hair.
The lawsuit stated that his attempts were “unwelcome, intentional, severe, based on religion, and created a hostile working environment based on religion,” per Daily Mail.
Saifan claimed that when the harassment started, she complained to another supervisor about the incidents, but no action was taken.
A day after Garcia’s alleged assault, Saifan handed over her two weeks’ notice. However, she wasn’t given any shift timing during the two-week notice period, while other non-Muslim employees who submitted their notice got work.
Garcia was later dismissed from the job. Saifan filed a complaint with Lenexa Police too.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claimed in the lawsuit that the restaurant chain violated the civil law that protects employees from discrimination based on religion, race, ethnicity, sex, and national origin.
Saifan said she filed the lawsuit because “I don't want this to happen to me or especially anyone else.”
She continued, “Of course, you know, it's not only about being respectful to Muslim coworkers, to any religion, anybody, everyone has different religious beliefs and choices. And you have to respect that you have to accommodate to that.”
Per The Associated Press, the lawsuit demands Chipotle institute policies that provide equal employment opportunities for employees of all religions along with paying damages to the employee.
What did Chipotle say?
The restaurant chain’s chief corporate affairs officer Laurie Schalow encouraged employees in similar situations to report grievances, including through an anonymous hotline.
Schalow added, “We have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind and we have terminated the employee in question.”
