Muslim Woman Charges She Was Fired in Part Because of Her Religion

A woman with a Masters in Social Work who graduated from Portland State University is suing Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, charging they fired her after discriminating against her because of her age and the fact that she is a practicing Muslim.

Sharmin Rahman, who was born in Bangladesh, maintains that her religious practices - which include praying up to five times a day, wearing modest attire including a headscarf and neck scarf, and not shaking hands with men - led to discrimination.

Rahman says that she was hired as a case manager in December 2014 and that she was subjected to people mocking her because of her accent and regularly barging in on her while she was in prayer.

According to the suit, Rahman's accent was "parroted" by colleagues who would say "we do not understand you" and "your English is poor."

She says they questioned whether her wearing religious attire could be a safety problem.

Once, when her she declined an offer to shake the hand of her boss, her manager allegedly gave her a hard time.

"Did you know that he is our boss?" she says she was asked.

"Yes," she said replied. "But that does not change things. I can't shake his hand."

Rahman also says that she is asthmatic and one of her supervisors regularly subjected her to second-hand smoke over her objections.

The suit, which seeks $1 million for economic and noneconomic damages, says that when she was fired in April 2015, she was told it because of "inability or not qualified."

Rahman maintains that she was never given any warnings about her performance and had never been disciplined.

Cascadia Behavioral, which is a non-profit that serves thousands of people with addiction and mental health issues in the region, has not yet responded to the suit.

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