The Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), America's largest Islamic civil liberties and advocacy group,
called on the US Department of Justice to find out whether the US bank has violated the civil rights of a Muslim woman when it denied service because she was wearing hijab, a mandatory headgear for Muslim women.
According to the woman, she was denied service by the Navy Federal Credit Union in San Diego for wearing headscarf, despite telling them that she was wearing that dress for religious reasons.
In a replay the Bank said,
“In the interest of Security and Safety for our members and employees - hats, hoods and sunglasses must be removed when entering the branch office. Special consideration for cultural and religious garments is under the discretion of the branch management. Navy Federal is making inquiries into the recent incident.”
“Under this bizarre and discriminatory policy, no Muslim woman wearing a head scarf, no Sikh man wearing a turban, no Jewish man wearing a yarmulke, no Catholic nun wearing a habit, no cancer survivor wearing a scarf, no Amish woman wearing a bonnet, and no blind person wearing sunglasses may enter a Navy Federal Credit Union branch nationwide,”
said CAIR-San Diego Public Relations Director Edgar Hopida.
“We call on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate this disturbing case and Navy Federal’s apparently unconstitutional policy and to ensure that the religious rights of all customers are maintained.”
