CAIR-Chicago Meets with ACLU-IL and Winston & Strawn Attorney on Religious Discrimination at Standardized Testing Centers

Yaser Tabbara, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago met with the Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU-IL) and an Faiyaz Hussain, attorney from Winston & Strawn to discuss legal strategy for a complaint involving a Muslim woman who was asked to remove her headscarf (hijab) at a local testing center. The parties discussed the options under which a law suit can be filed and whether the complaint can be filed as a class action. As part of the potential class action law suit, CAIR-Chicago is asking for anyone who has experienced any form of religious discrimination at a testing center to please contact us at civilrights@cairchicago.org. An example of a possible form of religious discrimination includes requiring or requesting the removal of a headscarf for searches, or discriminatory remarks made by employees about Muslims or Islam.

The facts of the above case are as follows:

A Muslim student was asked to remove her headscarf on two separate occasions at a testing center before she began a standardized test required for graduate school. The supervisor and employees of the testing center refused to show her a written copy of the policy requiring Muslim women wearing a headscarf to be searched. A witness at the testing center also observed the employees making discriminatory remarks about Muslims while the victim was taking the test.

If you or someone you know have experienced a similar incident and would like to take action to prevent such forms of religious discrimination at standardized testing centers in the future, please contact Christina Abraham at civilrights@cairchicago.org.

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