Southwest Airlines fire Muslim worker for taking time off for Friday prayers

A Muslim man in Maryland, United States of America (USA) alleged that an airline company discriminated against him by not allowing him to swap shifts to attend Friday (Jummah) prayers, according to a complaint filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Justin Mavins also known as Dauwd Mavins, was employed as a Ramp Agent for Southwest Airlines at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

Justin Mavins, said in the complaint, filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair), that he was fired after a month of employment due to his “sincere religious belief” that attendance at Friday prayers for 30 minutes was mandatory.

Mavins said he started working for the airline on November 28 at BWI. He said he was scheduled to work from 5:45 am to 2:15 pm on Friday, December 16, a move that would cause him to miss prayers, which he believed to be a religious obligation.

Mavins asked his manager to switch his morning shifts from Fridays to afternoon shifts so that he could attend Friday prayers. The following day, however, Mavins was told by a supervisor the accommodation would not be granted.

Mavins responded by taking a personal day off to fulfil his religious duties but ran into trouble on December 22 when the airline declared a “state of emergency” due to massive scheduling problems that grounded flights for days and stranded thousands of customers, many of them. parted with their luggage.

Employees have been informed that the company will deny all requests for personal absences, and agents who do not work their shifts will be fired.

“As you may be aware that I took off this morning to attend to my religious services later in the day,” Mavins wrote in an email to his supervisor on December 23. “I know that we all received a memo from Dallas yesterday stating that due to the state of emergency, anyone who calls out will be immediately terminated but I really had no choice.”

The termination letter that quoted a Southwest manager read, “I regret to inform you that observations of your attendance have led us to conclude that you are not suitable for this job.”