Ariens Co. has terminated four more employees in a dispute over the company’s break policy.
The employees, who are all Muslim, have been leaving their stations on the assembly line to pray at times prescribed by their religion. Company leaders say these breaks - outside of the break times scheduled by the company - interrupt production. CEO Dan Ariens has said that non-Muslim employees have raised concerns about fairness.
So far this year, Ariens says it has terminated 11 Muslim employees, while 14 more have resigned. Twenty-eight Muslims remain employed at Ariens.
Ariens manufactures small-engine machines, such as snowthrowers and lawn mowers.