Former Sears Employees File Suit, Allege They Were Fired for Being Muslim

The Sears department store at Rockaway Townsquare Mall is the defendant in a lawsuit filed in Essex County Superior Court by two former employees—one a Jefferson resident—who claim they were fired because they are Muslims, NJ.com reported.

Samiha Mitwally of Lake Hopatcong and Bloomfield resident Shams Uddin allege that on Aug. 24, while a number of employees gave customers discount coupons created by Sears, only they were fired. Mitwally claims an assistant manager of yelled at her "in an extremely threatening manner." Both describe experiencing general mistreatment on the job and charge the store with violating the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, the article said.

Parsippany attorney Anthony Macri, representing the former employees, told NJ.com that there may be a superior at the store who does not like Muslim people and that this person may be the assistant manager cited by Mitwally.

Sears spokesperson Howard Riefs' statement noted that the company does not address active or pending litigation but pointed to its anti-discrimination workplace policies and Code of Conduct, the article continued.