All employers should have a healthy understanding of what sharia is, Islamic/sharia-supremacism…
The sharia is against every single person who isn’t a straight Muslim male.
“I lost a traineeship over my headscarf”: Workplace discrimination often difficult to prove
Khaali Hirsi from Vaasa says she lost an internship over her headscarf—a claim her boss denies.
Discrimination cases often pit one person’s word against another’s, which is why Robin Harms from the non-discrimination ombudsman’s office says victims need to be proactive in collecting evidence if they suspect they’ll face bias.
Frustrated by a lack of job prospects, Khaali Hirsi, who holds a bachelor’s in business, decided to retrain as a bus driver. At the end of her training, she was to start an internship with bus company Helsingin Bussiliikenne, which operates some 40 percent of buses in the capital area.
“The boss asked me if I was planning to wear my headscarf, and I said ‘of course.’”
Hirsi claimed the supervisor—Jari Syväoja—requested that she wear a smaller scarf that would show some hair, but this was out of the question for Hirsi.
“I’ve worn a headscarf my whole life. It’s my faith and I have a right to practice it,” she said of the idea that she was forced to choose between her religion or a job.
Studies have shown that Finland is one of the most racist countries in the EU, with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights reporting that 16 percent of immigrants from sub-Saharan African countries in Finland faced discrimination in hiring.
Syväoja of Helsingin Bussiliikenne told Yle he had no problem with Hirsi’s headscarf, and that it was actually her long skirt which was the issue.
”She was wearing a long, wide skirt. That’s a safety risk as it can become tangled in the pedals. We don’t have any problem with headscarves,” Syväoja said.
Hirisi said she did not object to wearing a driver’s trouser uniform.
”We have many drivers of foreign background, so we have allowed headscarves,” he explained, though adding that no female drivers working for the company wear hijabs.
“We’re a Finnish company offering a Finnish service. Our standpoint is that workers can practice any religion as long as it doesn’t get in the way of work.”
Hirsi was eventually able to secure an internship with a Somali-background manager working for another bus company. She has not been able to find steady work as a bus driver and she said she believed it’s because she’s a headscarf-wearing woman.
Ombudsman: Fight back with evidence
Robin Harms, a senior adviser at the office of the non-discrimination ombudsman, told Yle that workplace discrimination is underreported in Finland.
