DEARBORN — Two Muslim women from Detroit are jointly suing fast-food giant McDonald’s for $10 million for alleged acts of discrimination against them in the hiring process involving their rights to wear a hijab at work.

The suit, filed on their behalf by Dearborn lawyer and chairman of the Michigan Advisory Board for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Nabih Ayad, with support from Dawud Walid, Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), was announced at a press conference on Thursday, July 24. The conference was held in the parking lot where the new CVS store is being built next to the McDonald’s where the alleged incidents took place, on Ford Road near Schaefer Road in Dearborn. The restaurant serves halal chicken.

The two women are Toi Whitfield, a 20-year-old African American from Detroit, and Quiana Pugh, a 25-year-old African-American from Detroit. Both are Muslims and both claim to have been denied employment by McDonald’s because of their head scarves. The plaintiffs did not know each other prior to the lawsuit, but both ended up with attorney Ayad through a “friend-of-a-friend” type of situation, according to Ayad.

Whitfield applied for a position at the McDonald’s on Ford Road in November of 2006 and had the necessary background, ability and knowledge for the position, according to the text of the lawsuit. It also says that Pugh had the necessary qualifications when she applied in July of 2008 at the same location.

But the same manager, identified as John Doe in the lawsuit, refused to hire either of them “based on their religious beliefs and dress,” according to text of the lawsuit. They were both allegedly told that they do not hire Muslim women with hijabs and that is specifically the reason why both plaintiffs were not hired.

The manager also allegedly told both plaintiffs things such as “Well, you’re not going to work here if you don’t remove it (the scarf)” and that they “can’t really hire you due to your scarf.”

Ayad said that McDonalds’ corporate office was aware of the lawsuit and had 28 days to respond.

He also spoke about why the allegations were troubling to him and the plaintiffs.

“It’s disheartening because we have a large concentration of Muslims in Dearborn, yet they do this in our own backyard,” he said.

The suit claims both plaintiffs have sustained “injuries and damages including, but not limited to, loss of earnings and earning capacity, loss of career opportunities, humiliation and embarrassment, mental and emotional distress, and loss of ordinary pleasures of everyday life.”

Walid and CAIR released a statement in support of the plaintiffs as well.

“The filing of today’s lawsuit is one step in seeking to rectify the discriminatory environment at this specific McDonald’s location.

“While this particular matter is being resolved in the courts of law, we call upon McDonald’s to review its dress code policy and formally make provisions within to accommodate the religious attire of its current prospective employees.”

Phone calls placed to McDonald’s were not answered as of press time.