(ATLANTA, GA, 2/1/2019) – On Monday, February 4, the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Georgia) held a press conference in Augusta, Ga., to announce the filing of a federal discrimination complaint against Farmhaus Burger, an Augusta restaurant chain which subjected one of its employees to anti-Muslim harassment.

 

VIDEO: Augusta Press Conference

 

According to a complaint that CAIR-Georgia has filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Augusta resident Lacey Jade resigned her position at the restaurant chain after owner Sean Wight allegedly threatened her job because she converted to Islam, and asked for permission to wear a hijab.

 

In a statement, CAIR-Georgia Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:

"We applaud this young American Muslim woman for her courageous willingness to stand up for her rights, speak out against bigotry, and reveal what she suffered in the workplace. Sadly, her story is not unique."

 

"Over the past two years, our office has documented a significant rise in complaints of anti-Muslim employment discrimination. Georgia Muslim workers have experienced various acts of bigotry, from a banker whose co-workers mocked him as a terroris to a chef whose hostile boss threw her prayer rug a trash can to multiple women targeted for wearing religious clothing."

 

"We hope that this particularly egregious incident in Augusta will lead more employees to speak up, and lead more employers to follow the laws of our nation, which forbid discrimination in the workplace."