Muslim Woman Denied Employment over Prayer Break

By TMO staff

In September 2018, Shahin Indorewala applied for a junior management position at Fast Track Management Inc., a marketing company in Virginia.

Indorewala states in a press conference in Falls Church, Virginia that she was brought back for the second interview to discuss logistics of her employment by an assistant manager. During the second meeting, the assistant manager informed her of what her daily schedule would look like such as a two-hour lunch break.

Hearing that she was allotted a two-hour lunch break, Indorewala said, “that’s kind of a long lunch break, but is it possible for me to take a shorter lunch break and instead take five minutes throughout the day to pray.” After she requested short breaks for prayer, she met the CEO of the company, Ramses Gavilondo.

Indorewala claims that he pointed to her headscarf and became very loud with various hand movements. Indorewala recalls Gacilondo remarks, “He was just like ‘Religion, we don’t want that here. We don’t want these religious shenanigans here.’” Indorewala said that this event took place in front of other employees and other interviewees.

“I felt very humiliated, but first I was just shocked … am I really being made fun of because of my religion in public? I was pretty hurt and pretty embarrassed,” Indorewala said in during a press conference.

Gavilondo has responded to the allegations against him and stated that Indorewala “wanted to preach her religion” and that in his company “we ask people to keep religion to themselves.” He has also stated that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigated Indorewala’s claims of discrimination and did not find anything wrong. However, this claim has not been confirmed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and there are no available records of a completed investigation.

If it is found that Gavilondo is in violation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, then there will be repercussions that could harm the company overall.

Indorewala is working with her lawyers to prove that two five-minute breaks would not have delayed or halted any work at Fast Track and Gavilondo’s claims are false. While she continues her case, Indorewala is currently working as a counselor for autistic children.