MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. — Several workers said they were shocked after they were sent to the restroom to pray and not long after they lost their jobs.
Several Muslim employees at the CEVA Logistics in Mt. Juliet said they were discriminated against because of how and where they chose to spend their breaks.
“I’ve lived here for 19 years in America. I grew up here. I don’t think I should be treated in this way,” said Abdir Ahman
Nine Muslim employees said they were fired Wednesday from the plant for using their breaks to pray during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.
Omar Mohammed said he worked as a temp at CEVA for nearly two years. He said at first the prayer breaks were not a problem. The said the employees were provided time and a clean space, but then the company changed their policy.
“They were telling us to use the bathroom. Don’t say you are going to pray, but say you are going to use the bathroom,” said Omar Mohammed.
“This is the first job I ever had to do this for my religion.” said Shueb Hassan.
The men refused to hide their faith and said they then lost their jobs because of it. Omar Mohamed said he sees other employees take breaks at various times of the day and they don’t lose their jobs. “If I was a non-muslim they wouldn’t have the same problem as us,” said Abdir Ahman
After the men complained the opened an internal investigation and decided to offer the men their jobs back. CEVA said it has also taken corrective action make sure something like that never happens again.
“We were given an apology,” said Omar Mohammed.