US Sues School Over Denial Of Muslim Pilgrimage

This is absolute craziness.

It would be a joke if she had sued. I can't believe the feds are suing.

This woman is young. The Hajj is required once in your life. She could have made it later in life. Or, because the timing of the Hajj changes each year, she could wait until it was at a time that worked better for her schedule.

But instead, she resigned, and now the Justice Department is suing on her behalf.

School districts all over the country must be loving this decision.

 

But you better not get caught wishing anybody Merry Christmas!

 

That popping sound you just heard wasn't the popcorn. It was Michael Savage's head exploding.

 

Aptly named town. The more well-known Berkeley's city council was considering a vote to bestow hero status on Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of stealing the documents later leaked to Wikileaks. They've since tabled it. Probably to strengthen the wording. WTFIWWTC

 

A joke? I don't know about that. This actually is one of those things that I'd be able to argue both sides of.

You say she can go any time she wants, but I don't know that the Hajj is something that is done on a whim. Maybe she felt "inspired" to do this now, which might amount to a "calling," which could be argued as religious freedom.

On the other hand, she's a state employee, and she has a responsibility to her school district and her class. And she has a contract, and if this kind of leave is not allowed in that contract, then maybe they can say "no."

 

They can absolutely say no.

 

The issue is not whether the contract permits the school district to say no. The issue is whether saying no violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

 

The major issue is how they handle other types of leaves. One would think that if they allowed other teachers off during a school year (and I don't know why they would) for non-medical reasons, they would have to have a reason to differentiate why this leave was denied.

 

I really don't have an opinion on this.

But logically speaking, if she can go anytime she wants, why not July or August when she isn't teaching?

Is there a certain time of year you're supposed to go?

 

I go back to my earlier statement that maybe you're supposed to go when you think you're supposed to go, when you feel like the time is right for you. I might be wary of telling anyone to postpone fulfilling what amounts to a "religious calling" until it's more convenient for everyone else.

 

What if she was a Christian and wanted unpaid leave to join her church group on a school-building mission to Uganda?

What if she was Mormon and wanted the district to hold her job while she went on an 18-month mission to Kansas?

Not saying these situations are apples-to-apples, but they are very common. And they would be coming from those who practice religions that are more popular in small Midwestern towns.