“Religious Discrimination and Hatred of Immigrants Have No Place in Maine,” MCLU Says
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PORTLAND, ME -- Tomorrow, the Maine Civil Liberties Union will argue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit that a Muslim man subjected to humiliating harassment at work should receive a remedy in court.
Abdul Azimi, a native of Afghanistan, was subjected to two years of racial, ethnic and religious harassment by co-workers at Jordan’s Meats in Portland, while his employer did nothing to stop the abuse.
“If our country’s civil rights laws are to mean anything, there must be some real penalty associated with severe racial, ethnic or religious harassment,” said Zachary Heiden, a staff attorney with the Maine Civil Liberties Union. “A jury found that Mr. Azimi suffered significant harm from two years of workplace harassment. We hope that the court will find that Mr. Azimi should be compensated for that harm.”
At his trial, the jury found that Azimi was indeed subjected to “hostile work
environment” harassment -- a violation of Federal law -- but it awarded him no
compensation for his suffering. The MCLU, as a “friend of the court,” is
arguing that not awarding compensation is inconsistent with the decision .
The harassment of Azimi took many forms. His coworkers targeted
him for being a Muslim and an Afghani. He was physically threatened and called a
“fucking nigger” and a “fucking piece of shit.” Notes were left in Azimi’s
locker calling him a “fucking Musselum” (sic) and suggesting that Saddam Hussein
and Osama Bin Laden are his parents. His goggles and hearing protection
equipment were smashed, his shoes were placed in the toilet, and the pockets of
his work uniform were filled with ham and pork.
“Religious
discrimination and hatred of immigrants have no place in Maine,” said MCLU
Executive Director Shenna Bellows. “Our courts have to make sure everyone knows
that this is not acceptable behavior.”
Racial, ethnic and religious
discrimination in the workplace violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, which was passed to remedy some of the injustices revealed by the civil
rights movement of the 1960s. The case was tried in the U.S. District Court in
Maine. The appeal will be heard at 9:30 a.m. at the John Joseph Moakley Federal
Courthouse in Boston, where the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
sits. That court hears appeals from federal cases in Maine, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico.
Jeff Young and Stephanie Jazlowiecki, of the law firm of McTeague, Higbee, Case, Cohen, Whitney & Toker, are cooperating counsel in this case. Jazlowiecki will present oral arguments on behalf of the MCLU.