U.S. MuslimsHijab-wearing Muslim women kicked out of California café suing for discrimination
Seven Muslim women who were kicked out of a southern California restaurant for wearing a hijab have sued the business for discrimination. The women, six of whom were wearing hijabs, were ordered to leave Urth Caffe in Laguna Beach on 22 April. The manager who told them to leave explained that they violated the café’s policy of limiting seating to forty-five minutes—but videos show that the restaurant was half-empty when the women were told to leave, and the restaurant states on its Webpage that “If tables are available, you are certainly welcome to enjoy Urth for as long as you desire.”
Seven Muslim women who were kicked out of a southern California restaurant for wearing a hijab have sued the business for discrimination.
The women, six of whom were wearing hijabs, were ordered to leave Urth Caffe in Laguna Beach on 22 April. The manager who told them to leave explained that they violated the café’s policy of limiting seating to forty-five minutes.
A video taken as they were leaving show that there were many open tables throughout the restaurant.
The International Business Times reports that the lawyers who filed the complaint on behalf of the women said that the business was half empty at the time, and other non-Muslim women seated far longer than the Muslim women were not asked to leave.
After the women protested, the manger called its security guard and eventually local police to force the women to leave.
The complaint, which seeks unspecified damages, states, “Urth Caffe’s removal of Plaintiffs was motivated not by Plaintiffs’ violation of any company policy, but by its desire to cleanse the restaurant of visibly Muslim patrons who have been targets of recent neighborhood hate.”
The complaint notes that the restaurant has been the site of numerous hate crimes against Muslims this year. In March and April, “locals unnerved by the increasing presence of Muslims in their community” threw eggs at Muslim customers at Urth Caffe, slashed their tires and yelled “racial taunts and epithets”, the suit says.
“That’s really the key to why this is discrimination,” said Mohammad Tajsar, attorney for the women, who range from 25 to 29 years old. “There’s a clear motivation on the part of the management to appease the discriminators and the racists who had been basically annoyed and frustrated at the increasing presence of people who seemed like they were Muslim.”
Laguna Beach is 90 percent white, according to Census data.
Tasjar noted that even if the restaurant did not directly address the women’s religion, it was a blatant case of prejudice. “Discrimination in 2016 can be clear even if there isn’t an outward religious slur.”
The restaurant has not apologized for the incident and instead defended its actions in a short Facebook post: “Urth Caffe categorically denies any and all claims of racial or religious discrimination against Sara Farsakh [one of the seven women]. While a full investigation is still ongoing, it appears that Ms Farsakh and her friends violated company policies and that the staff at Urth Caffe in Laguna properly and justifiably applied company procedures.”
The restaurant’s “busy time seating limit” policy, a copy of which Farsakh posted on Facebook, says: “If tables are available, you are certainly welcome to enjoy Urth for as long as you desire.”
In its statement, Urth said it does not condone discrimination and “sincerely hopes that its customers will withhold judgment until all of the evidence in this case comes to light.”
Farsakh, the one woman in the group who was not wearing a headscarf, said she stopped wearing a hijab in part because of her fears about discrimination.
“I shouldn’t have to be concerned about my mother, my mother-in-law, my friends and future daughters,” she said. “It’s unacceptable for anybody to have to go through this based off of the way that they look.”
