Herndon, VA. — Nineteen-year-old Riham Osman, a Muslim from Herndon, Virginia, was reportedly fired on the job at Dulles International Airport by Air France in early June, after a supervisor had told her that her head scarf violated the company’s uniform policy.

Osman, who was hired to be a passenger service agent for Air France by an outside staffing agency named Aerotek, arrived for training on her first day with the company only to be pulled from her session by a supervisor who demanded she speak to the person who hired her at Aerotek.

After being notified about the situation, Aerotek stated that they were aware of Osman’s headscarf at the time of her hiring and had asked Air France to make an exception for her in their dress code policy.

But according to Osman, that did not stop the supervisor from asking her to take off her scarf if she wanted to continue the training session. After refusing to co-operate with the request, Osman left the airport in tears.

Soon afterwards, Osman contacted the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for help. CAIR immediately filed a complaint and sent a letter to Air France, stating the following; “It’s clear that a discriminatory dress code implemented in France would not supersede American laws protecting the religious rights of employees. Air France must follow American law and grant reasonable religious accommodations for its employees.” 

A spokesperson for Air France acknowledged the company received a letter from CAIR but would decline to comment further, only stating that Air France is still investigating the matter. 

“The hijab, to me, it’s empowerment,” Osman told NBC News last week. “When people, men and women, talk to me, they’re looking at my personality, they’re listening to what I’m saying, they know that I stand for something.” 

Osman says she has yet to receive an apology from Air France and hopes travelers will boycott the company until the policy is altered.