This situation raises an interesting question.
How would you feel if a cashier made you swipe your own groceries because of his/her religious beliefs?If you haev an opinion on the matter, feel free to call me at (612) 673-4308.
I'm a reporter who covers Target for the Star Tribune and the other day, I got a call from someone who said that an employee at the Target store downtown refused to run his bacon through a scanning machine. He was mighty upset, arguing that the cashier had "no right to work as a cashier at Target" if she wasn't prepared to swipe his groceries.
But he was a little vague on the details, so I decided to check it out myself. At the Target store on E. Lake Street, a cashier wearing a hijab looked uncomfortable when I showed up at the cash register with a frozen pepperoni pizza. She immediately called for help, and another employee rang up the pizza and placed it in the basket.
I asked her if it was because she was Muslim, and she nodded her head. "I can't even touch it," she said.
The E. Lake store has only has a few aisles of food. How do Muslim workers adapt in Super Targets where there are full-fledged grocery sections? And is anyone other than this caller bothered by this? Are there some Muslim workers at Target who feel they have to suppress their beliefs to avoid conflicts?
Interesting -- what do you think?
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Comments on How Far Does Religious Accommodation Go?
As an official bleeding heart liberal in favor of making the world a more comfortable place for non-majority persons of all stripes, I've got to say - to hell with her. Don't take the job if you can't do the job.
|| Posted by Dan, March 13, 2007 09:16 PM ||Hmm...interesting. At our grocery store, some of the cashiers have nifty signs that say they cannot ring up alcohol. If you are so pesky as to ignore their sign and get in their line anyway, you have to wait for the manager to come ring it in. Because the kid cannot even touch it.
Maybe Target needs, "Sorry, I cannot ring up pork" signs.
If he was clear on his religious affiliation and challenges upon hiring and Target is willing to make necessary accommodations, then I don't see a problem. Both sides have the right to refuse employment, I think, although the US government might disagree with me on that one. I don't know.
|| Posted by Dana, March 14, 2007 02:44 AM ||Post a comment