AT&T to pay Muslim woman $5M in harassment case

[shawn703]

Source: Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former Kansas City woman who converted to Islam in 2005 said she was harassed for years at AT&T, and that the abuse boiled over in 2008 when her boss snatched her head scarf and exposed her hair.

A Jackson County jury on Thursday awarded Susann Bashir $5 million in punitive damages in her discrimination lawsuit, along with $120,000 in lost wages and other actual damages.

The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/JKWbqR ) reported Saturday the award appears to be the largest jury verdict for a workplace discrimination case in Missouri history.

Bashir said in court documents that her work environment became hostile immediately after she converted, with her co-workers making harassing comments about her religion and referring to her hijab as "that thing on her head."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g-KQ8FyO2ee3mWk_KcAuyuXOM1kg?docId=4242ffcbb0154aca88d46474abc221b5

[PSPS]

1. This never would have happened at the "real" AT&T

The Bell System really knew and appreciated the value of a diverse workplace. Now, there is no Bell System and "AT&T" is just a brand owned by SBC.

[LuvLoogie]

2. I'll go out in a limb...

and say that this has more to do with people in Missouri. Look at their legislature and the bills they are forwarding.

[SharonAnn]

6. Because the "real" AT&T lost a class action suit (big bucks) and actually revamped their corporate

culture and created a "zero tolerance" work environment. That was an really an incredible corporate commitment and a very successful implementation. Few companies have even approached what they developed.

But, let's remember that it was triggered by losing a class action discrimination lawsuit!

Nonetheless, kudos for what they accomplished once they faced the situation.

[PSPS]

8. That was an EEOC sex/race discrimination action in 1973, not a class action.

In 1973, AT&T paid back wages to about 15,000 workers and set up specific hiring and promotional guidelines to insure equal treatment for all workers regardless of sex or race. It was never granted class action status, as I recall. It remained a civil action between the EEOC and AT&T.

But that was before my time with them, when you would see all kinds of people everywhere. I had a couple of Muslim women working for me, and it was routine to accommodate things like prayer times. It would have never even occurred to any of us to treat them disparagingly. I'm quite sure that if someone began expressing animosity toward them or anyone else simply because they were "different," they would have been fired.

[lunasun]

10. yeah the other poster must of never heard of the landmark case against the Bell system

in 1970
An employment discrimination case the EEOC instituted against AT&T or the
historic settlement benefiting some 15,000 women and minority working
Bell System employees.

Discrimination yes it did happen in the Bell system and big time

For any unenlightened a good read would be The Bellwomen

[octothorpe]

25. I know AT&T is a ridiculous company to work for/with these days....

They treat their employees like shit, and from what I've seen, the unions within AT&T don't seem to be much better. Of course I had a fairly limited exposure to it, but it was enough to make me run away. Basically getting shit from both the management side and union side makes things very uncomfortable. Perhaps the two were just too damn comfortable with each other, I dunno.

[Flatulo]

3. That's a ridiculous award. Nt

[Posteritatis]

5. Which is fitting, since the conditions that led to it were at least as ridiculous.

If you slap a company on the wrist for this sort of thing they'll write it off as the cost of doing business. If you hurt them they might learn something.

[Flatulo]

7. I think it's more likely that opportunists will now deliberately provoke others at work

in the hopes of hitting a similar lottery.

I'd wear feathers to work and worship a gourd if I thought I could get a $5m settlement.

[Posteritatis]

9. Get right on that; we'll compare your court case's outcome to this person's. (nt)

[Flatulo]

11. Do you not think that awards like this encourage frivolous lawsuits?

Last edited Sun May 6, 2012, 01:02 AM - Edit history (1)

At the very least, it forces employers into somewhat ridiculous over-reactions.

I was working at DEC in the 90s and a woman complained about a picture that at male employee had of his wife on his desk. The picture was of a well dressed woman in a skirt that was an inch or two above the knee. We're not talking bikini calendars, here.

A mighty purge ensued. HR was examining every picture in every office, and anything that showed any female calf was deemed too provocative and ordered removed. I had to remove a CD box with Reba McEnryre on the cover. The whole incident made for quite a hostile work environment for over 200 people, just so that one individual who was determined to alter a culture into which she freely entered and would not accept would not be made to feel uncomfortable.

I understand that this is not the same thing that this poor woman endured, but I've seen companies over-react in ridiculous ways. And there is no way on earth that her pain and suffering was worth $5mil, any more than AT&T's CEO salary is worth $26m. It's just insane.

Edited to add: I see the actual award is limited to 5x actual damages, but still... Sheesh.

[Posteritatis]

12. That situation and this one aren't even on the same planet. Your comparison is absurd. (nt)

[Flatulo]

14. Sorry, you're probably right. I'm just feeling pissy tonight due to lots of back pain.

I get a bit pissy when I read about people who get compensated for emotional pain, while I'm friggin' dying from back pain and can't even sleep for more than a few hours,

[frylock]

18. in other words, you're suffering and so should others

[Flatulo]

21. I hope you've never suffered from crippling, physical pain,

But if you did you'd know that it can have a very negative impact on one's emotional state.

I shouldn't post when I'm in so much pain.

And no, I don't want anyone else to suffer. What a horrible thing to say.

[Rozlee]

19. Your comparison isn't absurd at all.

Petty people can make an entire organization suffer by their bullying and I don't know how they get away with it. When I was working as an Army nurse teaching Special Forces 18Ds (medical), they got a complaint from a soldier about the breathing and relaxation exercises that they did before their regular fitness training. It was Buddhist or something, the guy had complained. He threathened to go to the IG if they made him do it and started carrying on that it violated church/state. Suffice it to say, they stopped the relaxation exercises altogether, which everyone had enjoyed.

[SemperEadem]

15. then do it and see what happens

someone snatching an article of clothing off your body, no matter where it is worn, is assault. It's hostile and it has no place in any professional setting. Her religion is non of their business--no one's religion is anyone else's business. Just because some irrational toads in Missouri feel they have a right to intimidate the woman because she chooses to pray facing east doesn't alter that.

This judgment tells them that they do not have the right to intimidate or assault anyone for what they choose to believe. The company will think twice now when turning a blind eye to this behavior in the workplace.

You have no proof that this woman was out to score easy money.

haters gonna hate....

[Flatulo]

17. The judgement will accomplish nothing except to compensate the victim.

I guarantee you that AT&T already has an orange book 3" thick specifically prohibiting every type of discrimination imaginable.

The manager who snatched her headscarf should have been immediately fired, and possibly every employee involved in the harrassment. Then the Director of the department would get the message and enforce the rules.

But a $5m award drives me crazy when so many people are *physically* injured or maimed in the workplace (like me) and then get tossed to the curb.

But if you want to believe that I'm a hater, then hate away.

[SemperEadem]

26. I'm not the one hating

you're mad because no one will validate you and compensate you.

I think that if you jacked up your back at work, you should be compensated.

The fact that you didn't has absolutely nothing to do with this woman and what she went through for 3 years of this behavior and at&t deliberately turned a blind eye to what was going on under their noses.

That you begrudge her because of your experience speaks more to your smallness than it does to her greed.

[Flatulo]

29. Only partially correct...

Yes, I'm upset about my own situation.

But there is the entirely separate issue of the size of the award that this person received. It is objectively just nuts. The amount of the award is completely and ridiculously out of proportion to the injury she suffered. Why not give her $100 million? Why not $10 billion? Why not a trillion dollars?

There is usually some connection between loss and compensation that I do not see here.

[snagglepuss]

20. I think it is obscene that this gets massive compensation whereas

people who are fired for taking bathroom breaks get nothing because they work in right to work states. Frankly I am surprised DUers think this is a great thing when what it does is simply entrench the notion that religious beliefs trump everything.

[Arctic Dave]

4. Right on.

I hope all the people who did it were fired also.

[Politicalboi]

13. The most amazing thing about this is

She won this in Kansas. Where did they find the jury for that?

[SemperEadem]

16. In Missouri

Downtown KC is in Jackson County is in MO. There is a Jackson County, KS, but it is further west.

[Flatulo]

22. I have to wonder how many Muslims will never be considered for a job now

due to this woman's case. What hiring manager would not fear offending them in some way that would cost them or their company?

[cosmicone]

23. Actual damages are fine

but the punitive damages are excessive. It wasn't like she suffered physical pain or disability. Now everyone's telephone rates will go up to pay for this woman to drive a Ferrari and live in a McMansion.

People who lose life or limb in accidents get far less.

[Flatulo]

24. Exactly. It amazes me that people who scream the loudest about

undeserved executive compensation in the million$ (and rightly so) cannot see that this settlement is completely insane compared to her injury.

It boggles the mind.

[harun]

28. It isn't about that. It is about justice and changing behavior.

If a multi-billion dollar company gets a $200 fine it doesn't make a blip to policy. If they incur an unforeseen $5 million dollar expense they start writing new procedures, change the way people are trained and look to improving the culture that allowed for this to happen.

[Flatulo]

30. I guarantee that the abuse this person endured is already very strongly prohibited at AT&T

A better solution would have been to fire the manager who assaulted her, and demote the others how abused her.

A sensible award would have been actual damages plus emotional distress. $1m tops.

This award is all about the jackpot mentality.

Just my opinion, of course.

[REP]

27. Sounds exactly like the company I used to work for - which was SWB/AT&T

Bad management seems to be encouraged there. Sorry her award wasn't bigger.