A male Muslim employee was a passenger in a vehicle driven by a non-religious female. As they parked to await a job set-up the man turned the radio off in the vehicle and stated “You need to be quiet for a little while”, he then began a 7-minute afternoon prayer in the car. The female employee wasn’t happy with the way he went about it and would like to know if she has the right to ask him to wait or for him to leave the vehicle to pray, or to simply state that she would prefer he didn’t pray in front of her?
Posted 11-06-2013
Ann Kiernan replies:
I think she could have politely taken any of those three options, or she could have gotten out of the car herself, telling him that she felt uncomfortable intruding on his prayers, and would prefer to wait outside. Of course, it would have been better had the man said something like, “Excuse me, but it’s time for my afternoon prayers”, and left the car without being asked. Each side on religious accommodation issues needs to be respectful of the other.
Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.
