A Muslim woman in a newly filed federal lawsuit says she was fired from her new job as a receptionist at a Livonia dermatology clinic two days after the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.
According to the lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court in Detroit, the plaintiff — Terry Ali — had only been on the $14-an-hour job for one day at Livonia Dermatology when national news broke about the shootings carried out by a Muslim couple.
The day after the shootings, when she came into work, Ali — who wears a hijab — was assigned to work in a back room putting files away, not in the front greeting clients, which was what she was hired to do, the lawsuit claims.
After two days of working in a back room, Ali was fired — information she learned after receiving this e-mail from the office manager:
“My dear Terry, Let me start by saying you are a wonderful person. I can’t say enough ... your smile is infectious. I wish I had the opportunity to sit down with you and I feel awful even being so impolite and sending you an email,” stated the Dec. 5 e-mail, which was obtained by the Free Press. “Unfortunately, I will not be able to keep your employment with us. The cosmetic center going down to part-time, we are going to be bringing over the full time employee to work the front desk here ... Terry, you are a joyful person and it comes off in your attitude ... Good luck to you in your future endeavors.”
Ali followed up with a lawsuit, claiming she was let go because she was Muslim.
Livonia Dermatology adamantly denies the claim, noting the co-owner of the clinic, Meena Moossavi, is from Iran and Muslim, and that the clinic staff is very diverse, including Indian, Russian, Hispanic and Muslim individuals. The office manager said Ali was terminated because she couldn’t type fast.
“Her dismissal had to do with technical competency, it had nothing to do with religious beliefs,” said Jennifer Couturier, the office manager at Livonia Dermatology who hired Ali and sent her the termination e-mail. “She was not removed for any other reasons. She was a hunt-and-peck typer.”
According to Couturier, Ali was provided a room to pray in and was “not moved to the back whatsoever,” as she claims in her lawsuit.
“It’s an extremely diverse workforce. We have a zero-tolerance policy for any type of discrimination whatsoever,” Couturier said.
Couturier also said that the cosmetic center is downsizing, as her e-mail stated, and that it was difficult to bring up the typing issue with Ali.
“It is very difficult to tell somebody, ‘I am sorry. But you have typing skill issues,’ ” Couturier said.
Ali’s lawyer, Shareef Akeel, scoffed at the clinic’s response.
“What they did to Ms Ali was grossly insensitive and outrageous. Thankfully we have laws that deal with religious discrimination at the workplace,” Akeel told the Free Press. “The e-mails speak for themselves why she was let go.”
According to the lawsuit, Ali responded on Oct. 30 to an ad for a medical assistant-receptionist position with Livonia Dermatology. The next day, she interviewed for the job.
During the interview, she was asked why she wore a hijab, the lawsuit says. She explained that it was because of her faith.
Later that day, the office manager sent her an e-mail stating: “You are definitely at the top of my list from today :)”
On Nov. 5, Ali received another e-mail from Livonia Dermatology telling her that she was going to get the job. The e-mail stated: “The front area is hemorrhaging at this point and I need to bring in some positive, energetic people who actually care about patients. As we talked about, I am planning to expand the roles of those up front and there are lots of opportunities, be it in the lab, the front, billing and all others.”
Two weeks later came a followup e-mail from Livonia Dermatology: “I am very excited to have you join the team.” Ali was asked if she could start on Dec. 1.
After receiving the e-mail, Ali gave her two weeks’ notice to her current employer, where she had worked for five years.
On Dec. 1, Ali started working with Livonia Dermatology in the front area of the office.
On Dec. 2, national news broke of a mass shooting in California, involving a Muslim woman as one of the shooters.
The next day, when Ali arrived at work, a company representative “immediately summoned” Ali into the office and asked if she was satisfied with the job, according to the lawsuit.. Then out of the blue, the suit claims, Ali was asked if she could try to contact her former employer and ask for her old job back. Ali said no, that she had already given her notice and that she was happy where she was.
That same day, the lawsuit says, Ali’s job tasks were changed. She was not going to be out front greeting clients, but was moved to the back room putting files away — which she didn’t object to. A company representative asked her several more times if she enjoyed working at the office and suggested that she perhaps return to her old job. Ali said she was happy where she was. She continued her work, performed her tasks and went home. A colleague said they would see her on Monday.
The next day, the lawsuit says, came the e-mail telling her she had lost her new job.
Ali was fired. During her brief employment, the lawsuit says, Ali witnessed others being interviewed for various vacant positions with the clinic, triggering a lawsuit.
“Had plaintiff been non-Muslim, she would not have been terminated,” the suit claims.