A Muslim teenager, Samantha Elauf argued that she was denied a job because she was wearing headscarf for her religious purpose which is against the company’s dress code. She won this case after all and was awarded $20,000 in damages.

This case shows one of the ethical issues the company has to deal with. It is unfair to deny hiring people because of the religious reasons, however, the company also has to think about following their rules and keeping their brand image while not-abusing anyone’s rights. In this case, Samantha definitely has a right to show her religious beliefs in any ways, but the company also has to apply their dress code equally to all employees. If the company admits one exemption, they are going to have to admit other exemptions as well which might make their dress code meaningless and break the brand image. However, I believe that the company could have discussed this issue with her before denying her job. It is unfair that Samantha got denied a job just because of her headscarf even though she had a high-score at her interview. The way the company coped with this issue was disrespectful and rude. One thing the company can do is to go over their policy again and alternate it if needed to make sure that nobody’s rights would be violated by them. It might be challenging, but this is going to benefit the company in a long run.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29466083