In 2008, 17-year-old Samantha Elauf was denied a job at Abercrombie & Fitch in Tulsa, Oklahoma after she wore a hijab, a headscarf, to her job interview. Heather Cooke, the store's assistant manager became concerned that Elauf’s headscarf would interfere with the store's “look policy,” which does not allow any headgear, and promotes the retailer's brand by having their salespeople, or ‘models’ wear and advertise their clothing. Cooke was unaware that Elauf was a practicing muslim who wore her headscarf for religious purposes, which led to Cooke notifying the store manager, Randall Johnson. Johnson then said that “Elauf's headscarf would violate the look policy, as would all other headwear, religious or otherwise,”(“135 S.Ct. 2028”) and told Cooke not to hire Elauf.
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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is an organization that is responsible for enforcing federal laws, which makes it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy or genetics. David Lopez, EEOC‘s General Counsel stated “that effort to ensure all persons protected by Title VII are not placed in the difficult position of choosing between adherence to one's faith and a job”
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is an organization that is responsible for enforcing federal laws, which makes it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy or genetics. David Lopez, EEOC‘s General Counsel stated “that effort to ensure all persons protected by Title VII are not placed in the difficult position of choosing between adherence to one's faith and a job”