WYANDOTTE — Dearborn resident Summer Shahab is suing her former place of employment, Middle Eastern cuisine restaurant Shish Gardens, located in Wyandotte, for allegedly firing her after she showed up to work one day wearing a headscarf. The owners of the restaurant are of Arab descent, according Shahab and her lawyer Amir I. Makled, who practices at The Law Office of Cyril C. Hall, P.C. in Dearborn. 

Shahab, who is of Yemeni descent, started  waitressing at the restaurant located on Allen Rd. since March of 2012. In November 2012, she had decided to wear the headscarf to get closer to her Islamic faith. But she alleges when she showed up to work the next day with her new attire, the manager of the restaurant, Adel Badreldin, had taken issue with her appearance.

Shahab alleges that when she had arrived to work, she was already nervous of her new attire because she was afraid that customers at the restuarant would judge her. At the beginning of her shift, she claims Badreldin approached her and asked her why she had decided to wear a headscarf without consulting with him first, and whether she was forced to wear it because of her parents.

Shahab claims Badreldin had then told her that her headscarf was not an appropriate dress code for the restaurant, leaving him no option but to send her home early that day. Shahab says she spent the whole night crying over the incident and returned to work the next day to discuss what had occurred with Badreldin.

On this second day, some of the statements Shahab alleges her former manager had told her includes “you’re not going to work here if you don’t remove it,” and “you have to make that decision.” She alleges that Badreldin was concerned that her headscarf was going to negatively affect his business. Shahab had told him that she was willing to conversate and educate customers who might have questioned her attire, but Badreldin allegedly had told her that if  she wanted to express her religion she should go to a mosque, and not bring religious demonstrations into a work environment.  

Shahab says that Badreldin gave her the impression that she could not work there as long as she had her headscarf on. After their second conversation, she left the restuarant and never returned.

Since the incident, Shahab is  claiming she has severe emotional distress and mental anguish as a result of the actions taken by her former manager. She has filed for a civil suit at the Wayne County Circuit Court and is seeking $25,000 in damages against the restaurant under two counts, one being a violation of the Michigan Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights act and the second being Intentional Infliction Mental and Emotional Distress. 

According to Shahab and her attorney, the restaurant continues to deny that they had fired Shahab because of her decision to wear the headscarf, and have cited other reasons. There was one incident where Shahab had arrived late to work because she allegedly had a flat tire, but she claims she had provided proof of that to management.

Shahab continues to wear the headscarf today, but says at one point after the incident she had lost confidence and began questioning whether she had made the right decision to put on the headscarf. What surprised her about the alleged discrimination was that it came from an Arab American. Makled says he is representing Shahab in this case in hopes of sending a message to the community. 

“We feel we cannot stand for these egregious acts to happen, even when it’s coming from a fellow member in our community. There is no excuses for any of this, and sometimes it’s unfortunate that it comes from our own people. The community at large needs to know that discrimination from any source will not be tolerated,” Makled said. 

TAAN attempted to contact Badreldin at Shish Gardens, where messages were left regarding the allegations, but the calls had not been returned at press time.