Lenexa, KS (KCTV) — Ariz Saffan, like many other teens, was trying to land a part-time job while going to college.
She used to work at a local Chipotle, where she says an assistant manager repeatedly harassed her about wearing a hijab.
“Since July, my manager kept asking me to look at my hair and I kept telling him to stop asking no more,” Saifan said. “He kept repeating to look at my hair and I told him to stop asking me, I wear it for religious reasons.”
Saifan says the man will not take “no” for an answer.
“I just got back to work and he followed me and pulled my dupatta down,” Saifan said. “I felt like I was exposed, humiliated, I felt like, why would anyone do this to me?’
The assistant manager involved in the incident has been fired, but it was not immediately. The action was taken after pressure from the Kansas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Kansas).
Moussa Elbayoumi, president of CAIR-Kansas, said, “Someone pulling off the hijab is probably the closest thing I can say, it’s almost as if someone is coming up to a non-Muslim woman, and pulling off her shirt or Pulling his pants.” “It’s disrespectful, exposing something she considers private.”
Elbayoumi said what happened to the teenager was an example of the rise in bigotry and persecution that Muslims often face. He said the hatred started soon after the 9/11 attacks.
“It’s growing and in the last four or five years, it’s multiplied,” Elboumi said. He said bullying happens inside businesses, neighborhoods and schools.
“And this needs to stop,” Elboumi said. “We are so much better than this as a society, and we need to stand up and say, we cannot allow this to continue in our society.”
Saifan filed a police report and police are investigating what happened, but it is not clear whether the assistant manager will face assault or a battery charge. Saifan and his supporters say it should be considered a hate crime.
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