HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-11-09 PACKET 08.B.Minnesota Dtgm merit 0i'
HUMAN RIGHTS
I
. ".use of the oath: August 2011
Hennepin Count settles charge that it discriminated against
Somali Muslim female who sought to pray during visit to
government center
Case 53938 Closed 8 -11 -11
Resp oxidestt
County of Hennepin
A -2303 Hennepin County Government Center
300 S Sixth St. Nfinneapolis IAN 55487 -0233
Charging Party
PIamo Hashi
Robbinsdale MN
The following information is a summary of the department's findings and contains excerpts from other
public documents relevant to this case.
Facteial Basis of the Allegadoits — NAiliat the Chargnxg Party Alleged
F.hamo Hashi is a Somali female who practices Islam. On October 10, 2008, she was applying for
Emergency Assistance and meeting with a caseworker at Hennepin County's Century Plaza location,
when she realized it was time for prayers, as required by her religion. She asked her caseworker for
permission to pray in her cubicle, and the caseworker said that would be fine. But when she began her
prayers, another caseworker began cursing at her, picked up her belongings, an d tossed them around.
The employee then grabbed Hashi, pushing and pulling at her. As Hashi struggled to continue her
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prayers, the employee started shouting: "Hey, listen, stop!" and "Talk tome when I'm talking to you,
move, listen to me."
Although the first caseworker advised her coworker that Muslims "don't talk to you when they are
praying," the second caseworker continued her hostile behavior. "I'm going to call the police —you
can't pray here —why are you ignoring me ?" the second caseworker demanded. "Stupid Somalis...
what the hell is wrong with you," she allegedly yelled.
After finishing her prayers, Hashi opened her eyes and saw that a group of county employees had
gathered around her, including a Hennepin County Sheri ff. She asked the officer for help. "Shut your
mouth or I'm going to arrest you," the officer responded. "Be quiet and leave the premises right now or
in 5 seconds you're going to jail," he continued. "Don't talk to me, go!"
Hashi left the building as ordered.
In a charge filed with the Department of Human Rights, Hashi alleged that she was discriminated
against in the area of public services by Hennepin County. Specifically, she alleged that she was
physically assaulted and subjected to derogatory language with regard to her national origin and
religious beliefs.
Saumnary of the t "oininissioner`s Meinoranihun — IN -Itat the Departinmit`s
hivestigatioik Foinid
In answering the charge, Hennepin County denied that it had discriminated against Hashi. The county
argued that Hashi had been praying in a high traffi c area, had been asked to move but refused, and when
she would not calm down, she was asked to leave.
In its investigate on, the Department of Human Rights noted that observant Muslims pray five times a
day. The prayers are spoken aloud and accompanied by rituals of bowing and kneeling. Once a person
begins a prayer, they are not supposed to stop except in the case of a life- threatening emergency.
Because Hennepin County's Century Plaza location has a diverse clientele and the wait to s ee a
caseworker can be long, it is likely that some of its clients will need a place to pray while on county
premises. The county provided such a place — a small corner next to the elevators had been designated
as a prayer location for Emergency Assistance clients.
However, not all county employees knew where the prayer location was, the department's investigation
determined. Although the caseworker who gave Hashi permission to pray in her cube had been working
at the Century Plaza location for six or seven months, she had not been told where to send clients who
asked to pray. Thus, although Hennepin County had provided a space to accommodate religious
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practices, the accommodation was not effective.
The accounts of witnesses interviewed by the department, including the two caseworkers who interacted
with Hashi, differed as to what happened on October 10. In her defense, the caseworker who had
allegedly ordered Hashi to stop praying and move, asserted that Hashi had posed a safety hazard. She
stated that she feared that someone would fall over her, injuring both that person and Hashi badly
enough to require paramedics. Despite Hashi's claims that the caseworker had repeatedly harangued and
assaulted her, she said she had spoken only once to Hashi to tell her to move. She had touched her, but
only once, on the shoulder, she said. And she had not throwm Hashi's coat and phone around as alleged,
though she admitted that she had moved the items to another location.
The first caseworker agreed with Hashi's account that the second caseworker had persisted and
continued to order her to move while she was praying, even after being told that she had been given
permission to pray in that location. The first caseworker also did not support her coworker's account that
Hashi's presence had created a safety hazard. The claim that the second caseworker had made various
derogatory remarks about Somalis could not be confirmed — neither the first caseworker nor another
witness remembered hearing
There was no reason to believe that either the Sheriff or a security guard at the scene had acted as they
did because of Hashi's religion or national origin, the department found. "Evidence showed that actions
of the respondent's security personnel and sheriff's deputy were occasioned by the charging party's angry
reactions after she completed her prayer, which were precipitated by the respondent's employee's actions
and her refusal to disengage from the conflict," the department noted.
.Although it was not possible to substantiate Hashi's claims that she was harassed because of her national
origin, evidence showed that one of Hennepin County's employees attempted to interrupt her religious
practice and continued to do so, even after being told that Hashi had permission to pray where she eras,
the department's investigation found. In denying Hashi an undisturbed place to pray an d in removing her
belongings, the caseworker's actions constituted illegal discrimination, the department found. The
department concluded, "Although not all of the charging party's claims could be substantiated, evidence
showed that the second employee's actions, which were particularly inappropriate for a public employee,
effectively denied the charging party full utilization of, and benefit from, the respondent's services
because of her religion, in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act."
Tea°ams of Settleanemt
In a settlement negotiated with the Department of Hum an Rights, Hennepin County agreed:
• That the Council on American - Islamic Relations (C AIR) will conduct at least two training
sessions for Respondent and its employees at the Century Plaza location,
• That Hennepin county will develop and adopt written policies and procedures addressing its
obligations as a public service under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, or, if policies and
procedures already exist, it will review and revise them as needed to ensure compliance with
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the M nnesota Human Rights Act;
That it will send an email to all of its employees who work in the Century Plaza location,
informing them of designated areas within the public /common space of the building that
would be conducive to meditation androrprayer. These spaces will be designatedwith small
signs;
That it will pay Hashi the sum of fifteen hundred dollars (1,500.00), and will send her a letter
of apology. The respondents deny that they violated the Minnesota Human Right Act
Q,MRA), and the settlement of this case does not constitute an admission of any liability of
violating the MHRA or any other law, or of any wrongdoing.
The Department of Human Rights publishes information about selected cases and settlement
agreements, including its "Case of the Month," as part of its mandate under the Human Rights Act to
°educate to eliminate" discrimination. Settlement agreements do not constitute an admission of any
liability, an admission of a violation of the IAmnesota Human Rights Act or any other law, or an
admission of wrongdoing by the respondents.
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Eh4PLOY"ER
IvEnnesota Department of Human Rights, Freeman Building, 625 Robert Street North, Saint Paul 1,41
55155
Contact Us : 651.539.1100 (TTY 651.296.1283); Toll Free 1.800.657.3704; Fau 651.296.9042
G 2011 Minnesota Department of Human Rights
Minnesota North Star, Minnesota State Government Online
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