WESTLAND – A local Muslim woman was denied entry into Advance America on Thursday, August 6, after refusing an employee’s demand that she remove her hijab.

Westland resident Zeinab Zreik had intended to purchase a money order. Instead, she discovered that the payday lending company had long been implementing a discriminatory policy against Muslim women for “security purposes.”

Zreik’s incident marks the latest in a string of complaints by Muslim women launched against the South Carolina-based company.

Last November, The American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee of Michigan (ADC-MI) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Michigan (CAIR-MI) filed a joint lawsuit against the company because of a similar incident involving a Muslim woman at an Inkster location.

In that case, surveillance footage captured local resident Raghdaa Ali being denied entry and an Advance America employee asking her to remove her hijab in order to receive service.

ADC-MI Director Fatina Abdrabboh said the organization received dozens of complaints from Muslim women who were denied entry around metro Detroit, including locations in Sterling Heights and Warren. 

“Unfortunately, we have received dozens of complaints by Arab American women about the discriminatory business practices against women who wear hijab,” Abdrabboh said. “Some of the victims choose to go public, but many choose to remain anonymous and avoid litigation and media coverage. There is undoubtedly a widespread problem.  Considering we receive many complaints each week, the decision of whether or not to litigate depends on the consideration of the client’s interest and the community’s cause.  These days, women in hijabs are increasingly being mistreated.” 

The refusal to serve Muslim women supposedly stems from a company policy stating that customers can’t wear “hats or sunglasses.”

Amir Makled, an attorney at the law offices of Cyril Hall, who is handling Zreik’s case and is in the process of filing a lawsuit, told The Arab American News that he reached out to the company for a response.

“They indicated that it’s their policy to have all headgear removed, including a religious garb, upon entry into their locations,” Makled said. “I made it clear to them that my client has a first amendment right to practice her religion and this hijab is part of her religion. In any event, they don’t seem to care.”

Lena Masri, the senior staff attorney at CAIR-MI, told The Arab American News that both CAIR-MI and ADC-MI have been communicating with the company’s legal team about changing its nationwide “safety” policy, but have had no luck so far.

“They have been defending the case vigorously,” Masri said. “Their argument is that they should be allowed to discriminate. The argument they make is based on security concerns. We believe that argument is a cover for what is actually pretextual discrimination.”

Advance America has justified demanding that a Muslim woman remove her hijab by arguing that she could conceal a weapon under it. Masri noted that this argument seems to be inconsistent with other clothing items and accessories. Advance America employees don’t ask customers to remove coats and hoodies and they also allow female customers to walk in with their purses. Masri said weapons could easily be concealed in any of those situations.

She said the policy blatantly targets Muslim women.

“This conduct is outrageous and it shouldn’t be tolerated. They use safety as a pretext against Muslim women, preventing them from services at any location.”

In recent years, the hijab has been at the center of several court cases involving Muslim women who were either told to remove their headwear or denied the same privileges as others.

In May, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Samantha Elauf, a Muslim woman who had interviewed for a job at a Tulsa, OK. Abercrombie and Fitch while wearing her hijab and had been rejected under the company’s “look policy.” That decision marked a victory for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that sued the company on Elauf’s behalf.

In Dearborn Heights, Makled also represented a Muslim woman who had filed a complaint against the police department after officers forced her to remove her hijab during the booking process. The parties settled the dispute outside of court, resulting in new procedures and protocols being implemented so that a Muslim woman is no longer required to remove her hijab in front of male officers.

The Advance America Litigation has two scheduled court dates in October.