A 13 year-old Muslim girl took legal action against an airline for degrading her by ordering her to remove her hijab before boarding a flight.
Fatima Abdelrahman plans to seek damages for emotional distress and force changes to Air Canadas policies after she said was ordered to remove the headscarf before boarding one of their flights at San Francisco International Airport in August.
The US National Squash Team member, who was traveling to a tournament, said: The Air Canada agent said you need to take that off — he pointed at my scarf — and I said “I cant” and he said “You have to”.
Fatima, who is from Santa Clara in California, had successfully cleared TSA security before the incident, and was forced to remove the head-covering on a jetway.
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She added: Taking it off isnt just like taking off a sock or taking off whatever, its almost like taking off a limb.
Its a big deal to me. Its part of my Muslim identity and who I am as a person.
So when someone tells me to casually take it off and hurry up, its degrading.
She is now being represented by an attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Fatimas lawyer told Read More – Source
