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Posted on 02/02/2012 5:51:53 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
A South Florida Muslim woman has hired a lawyer after claiming she was refused service at a Boca Raton gas station because of her religion.
La Fleur Mohamed said she was humiliated in the incident at a Chevron gas station.
Very painful, very painful -- (I) felt really embarrassed," she said.
Mohamed said the attendant refused to let her fill up because she wears niqab, or face veil, because of her religion. She claimed the attendant threw the money back at her and told her to leave.
“I said, ‘Excuse me, but this is my religious right.’ She said, ‘Well, I need to see you.’ I said, ‘No, you don’t. Please just give me $20 on pump No. 1,’ and that’s when she just threw my money back at me,” Mohamed said.
Mohamed called 911 and a police officer showed up, but the attendant wouldn’t change her mind.
“He went in and asked her why she’s not serving me, and she said that it’s company policy not to serve people like me,” Mohamed said.
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office records state Mohamed did not have enough gas to get to another station.
Dispatch also told arriving deputies, "They are refusing to give her gas because of her religion."
Mohamed said Chevron officials apologized but claimed they found no evidence of discrimination, and she hired a lawyer, Wilfredo Ruiz.
“In this particular case, when somebody’s escorted by law enforcement and asked to be served and what she hears is a refusal, there’s no doubt that this is a violation of Title 2 of the Civil Rights Act,” Ruiz said.
Mohamed is also taking her complaint to the Florida Commission on Human Relations, a state agency that is now investigating.
“I need people to be aware that we are here. We’re Americans, and we deserve the same right, the same treatment as everyone else,” Mohamed said.
Mohamed said she wants an apology and for Chevron to launch a discrimination training program for employees.
In response, Chevron spokesman Brent Tippen released the following statement:
"Chevron continues to take Ms. Mohamed’s allegations seriously.
"In response to the incident which occurred in October last year, we conducted a thorough investigation. We spoke with our employee cashier and reviewed the store surveillance tape. The incident occurred within a few days of Halloween -- a time when retailers are prone to increased theft from persons wearing masks and other facial coverings. In light of this concern, we acknowledge that our employee did ask Ms. Mohamed to remove her veil for security purposes; when she refused, she was denied service.
"We fully believe that our employee acted without the intent to violate Ms. Mohamed’s religious principles and any suggestion that discrimination is acceptable at Chevron is completely false. Chevron employs 60,000 people from countries across the globe. Our Human Rights policy requires that we treat all people with respect and dignity.
"Regardless, we regret the misunderstanding. We have apologized twice to Ms. Mohamed and encouraged our employees to be more aware of potential diversity issues."
Local 10 asked Tippen, if the employee thought Mohamed was going to steal or that she was dressed for Halloween, how would he explain the attendant refusing to serve Mohamed when the Palm Beach County deputy was there, vouching that Mohamed was a legitimate customer? Tippen responded:
"The cashier was asked by the police officer about the issue. The cashier indicated that she was following publicly posted instructions to ask customers to remove masks or other facial coverings for security camera purposes. This is consistent with Chevron’s focus on safety for both its employees and customers. The officer was only inquiring about the cashier’s decision, not to assist with the transaction.
"Again we acknowledge that this incident was a misunderstanding. It is not our policy to deny service to customers based on their religious dress. Ms. Mohamed would be served if she came into one of our stores tomorrow."
They are a clear & present danger to our way of life and as soon as they succeed in using our civil liberties to gain what they want will yank them away & enslave us all.
I don’t know any Americans who go around wearing that crap.
If you want to be an American you need to accept our norms.
Otherwise go home.
.
If she was going to drive off, why would she even talk to the attendant with $20 in her hand?
Haven't you heard of zero tolerance? It's all the rage in the schools now.
I got this one figured out ..... Betcha it was Joe Biden in a gas attendents uniform and speaking with an Indian or Hindue accent.
IMOP the cop should have ticketed the Muslim for endangering the general public by driving wearing a costume which restricted her view of the road. Then he should have had her car towed for the same reason. Then he should have explained to her that, unlike her native hell hole, this is a free country .... including the freedom to leave if you don’t like it.
Similar stories can be found all over. It's a soft tyranny-- this victimization game, and unfortunately, their targets seem to rollover, comply. It's a variation of the race card play.
Wakeup, people.
My guess is the cashier is a pakistani or syrian, etc expat who knows what its like to live as a non-muslim under the jackboot of this woman’s death cult.
What are you smoking? How does a store clerk know “in advance” the intent of someone who enters the store with their face covered over? When a judge decides that private businesses have the obligation to serve anyone with a face covering you are going to see a lot more robberies because now the crooks will dress like Muslims to gain entry to a business without being suspected of intending foul play. And the cameras will not be able to see their faces. And you will not be permitted to regard them with suspicion until it is too late. Should the store clerk have to wait until the person with the face covering pulls a weapon out before stating that the person will not be served? What this all amounts to is a constant erosion in private property rights. More and more businesses and individuals are being prosecuted for exercising their Constitutional rights to make their own decisions as to who or what they choose to associate with on their own property. Now the government and the law enforcement community under the guise of preventing discrimination (yeah we are human beings and are the only species on the planet that has the ability to discriminate and there is a reason for that) can barge into your home or business and make you act a certain way.
No shirt, NO shoes, NO veils, NO SERVICE!
*************
I’ve seen a store with a similar sign that read:
No shirt, NO shoes, NO SERVICE!
LADIES, NO Charge
I was in a gas station in Northern Louisiana, it had a sign “no hoodies”.
I’ve seen plenty “no shirt, no shoes, no service”
And I’ve seen signs we have the right to refuse service to anyone.
So what’s the big deal here, it was explained that for security purposes she had to reveal her face. I’ve seen attempted lawsuits to wear their headdress on driver’s license pictures, sheesh.
Actually I don’t have a problem with this. A business owner should be able to refuse service to anyone for any reason short of a life and death situation.
This is one of those things that grew out of the civil rights era that might have had its place at one time but it needs to go. If a racist restaurant owner wants to refuse business to blacks, so be it. I suspect the market will correct him into bankruptcy.
She should get a credit card; and use it at pump. Surely she has one. (Perhaps she was looking for an incident?)
As to what was problem; given Officer showed up? Policy. Going to call police every time this driver pulls in here?
As a customer; If I were inside this station; I would be inclined to want to get the heck out of there; if saw someone wearing a burqua approaching the cashier.
Good idea; perhaps; for people with face coverings; change their MO's per 'filling up'. Gas stations are of course; No.1 targets of perps. And they are creative.
All to say; I am not sympathetic with 'victim'.
And this woman; not 'sympathetic' per situation; either.
Take off the mask, you freak! Every day isn’t Halloween.
leFleur? Is this a homegrown Muslim?
They hate the West.
Why are they here ?
What is it about publicly posted instructions you don't understand? If the police had NO PROBLEM with it, then it was perfectly within the cashier's right AND her job description to follow company policy and procedure...with which the law enforcement people obviously agreed or they would have done more than simply walk away.
No your honor, it's just that she was scaring all the other customers.
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