WASHINGTON (BP) — The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in favor of a Muslim job applicant provided what religious freedom advocates hailed as a wider victory for people of faith. In an 8–1 decision, the high court ruled June 1 an employer cannot make religious exercise an element in hiring decisions.
The justices’ opinion favored a federal agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), over a clothing retailer, Abercrombie & Fitch, in a case involving the refusal of a store in the chain to hire a young Muslim woman who wears a headscarf.
The Supreme Court “got this one right,” said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). “People should not be discriminated against because of their conscientious religious beliefs simply because a business doesn’t find their religion sexy enough.”
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