Source: Huffington Post
A Muslim man says former coworkers at Bed Bath & Beyond called him a “terrorist” after he grew out his beard, and alleges the chain later fired him because of his religion.
Jose Alcantara, 38, filed a lawsuit against the home goods company on Friday. He began working as a department manager at a Bed Bath & Beyond location in Manhattan in October 2012 and lost his job in early 2014 for not coming to work after a vacation — although Alcantara says someone at the company altered his schedule without notifying him.
“I’m 100 percent convinced that he was fired simply because he was practicing his religion,” Alcantara’s lawyer, Adam Slater, told The Huffington Post. “The beard put everyone on notice that he was Muslim. Before they knew he was a Muslim, they were treating him great.”
When Alcantara’s mother-in-law was dying of cancer in February 2013, he grew out his beard to more deeply connect with his faith, according to the lawsuit.
Alcantara’s beard was “regularly groomed” and “trimmed” and did not exceed the “length of a fist” in compliance with Bed Bath & Beyond’s grooming policies, the suit notes.
After he grew out his beard, Alcantara’s colleagues allegedly made comments like “Good morning, terrorist” and “Come here, terrorist,” according to the lawsuit. He reportedly complained multiple times to the human resources department and upper management of Bed Bath & Beyond, but was told the comments were “just a joke.”