Muslim Coalition Plans Legal Complaint Over Ariens Prayer Break Policy

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national group promoting the fair treatment of Muslims, plans to take legal action against Wisconsin manufacturer Ariens over its policy on prayer breaks.

Over the weekend, CAIR met with former Ariens factory workers. Seven Muslim employees have been fired and 14 resigned after being told they could no longer leave the production line to make prayers.

One of them is Ibrahim Mehammed of Green Bay. He worked at the Brillion plant for six months and said that when he applied, the human resources department told him he could take the breaks — a claim the company’s CEO disputes.

“Prayer is important and something that I’m committed to, to pray to God. And I don’t think anyone can stop me from that unless God stops me,” Mehammed said through an interpreter.

CAIR said that at least a dozen former Ariens workers are willing to sign on to a discrimination complaint. The council expects to file the case with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a couple of weeks. It alleges the company violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which requires employers to “reasonably accommodate” people who have sincerely held religious beliefs, unless the accommodations would cause undue hardship.

Company CEO and Chairman Dan Ariens said the firm has done everything it can to accommodate its Muslim employees. He said the break policy is a long-standing one and that unscheduled breaks disrupt production and are costly.

“On the economic hardship to the Ariens company, we’ve demonstrated that it’s at least $ 1 million in line stoppage per line whenever someone takes an unscheduled break,” Ariens said.

That million-dollar figure is per employee each year.

Ariens pointed out that his company still employs 30 Muslims at the Brillion plant and has never had a complaint filed with the EEOC in its 83-year existence.

CAIR said the former employees are seeking back pay and to be reinstated in their jobs.