The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today welcomed a federal judge’s ruling that rejects a claim by a Washington, D.C., hotel that it had the right to discriminate against a Muslim employee because of a “national security exemption.”
United States District Judge Barbara J. Rothstein ruled yesterday that “the national security exemption does not immunize Defendant from liability as to Plaintiff’s retaliation claim.”
Judge Rothstein’s ruling came in response to a motion filed by the Mandarin Oriental Hotel with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia claiming CAIR’s lawsuit on behalf of the Muslim employee should be rejected by the court because the hotel “was following a mandate from the federal government regarding a matter of national security.”
The hotel’s motion blamed its discriminatory actions on security requirements allegedly imposed by the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).
“We welcome Judge Rothstein’s ruling and are pleased that this case can now move forward to examine the employee’s allegations of retaliation for complaining about the treatment he was subjected to because of his faith and ethnicity,” said CAIR National Legal Counsel Nadhira Al-Khalili.