Chipotle Sued After Store Manager Grabbed Muslim Employee’s Hijab and ‘Yanked’ It Off

A federal agency has sued the restaurant chain Chipotle for religious harassment and retaliation after an assistant store manager allegedly removed an employee’s hijab after she repeatedly refused his requests to remove her headscarf.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in July 2021, assistant manager Kevin Garcia began asking employee Areej Saifan, who was 19 years-old at the time, to remove her hijab because “he wanted to see her hair,” according to the lawsuit, The Kansas City Star reported.

The manager’s “offensive and incessant requests” for Saifan to remove her hijab, and his attempt to physically take it off, were “unwelcome, intentional, severe, based on religion, and created a hostile working environment based on religion,” the lawsuit alleged, according to the Associated Press.

The lawsuit includes the note that, after multiple requests from Garcia to remove the headscarf, in August, 2021, he "advanced on Saifan, reached out, grabbed her hijab, and yanked," NBC News reported.

The EEOC filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas. 

The federal agency is requesting a jury trial and for Chipotle to adopt policies that provide equal employment for employees of all religions.

The agency is also seeking damages for the employee.

In a statement responding to the suit, Chipotle’s chief corporate affairs officer Laurie Schalow told the Associated Press that the company encourages employees to contact the company, which includes an anonymous hotline. 

“We have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind and we have terminated the employee in question,” Schalow said.

The EEOC claims the Garcia was not terminated for the harassment allegations but because he was romantically involved with another employee, which violates company policy, the Star reported.

In January, the EEOC sent a letter to Chipotle stating it found reasonable cause to believe Saifan’s claims, the paper reported. 

Both companies attempted to reach an agreement, but they were unable to find one acceptable to the EEOC, according to the lawsuit, the paper reported.