AT&T Hit with Five Million Dollar Verdict for Religious Discrimination

In Bashir v. AT&T, Ms. Bashir converted from Christianity to Islam six years after she began employment.  She began wearing the religious head scarf of Islam and attended Friday mosque services.  Her co-workers and supervisors called her a “terrorist” and told her she would be going to hell.   One manager repeatedly ordered her to remove her headscarf, harassed her for wearing it, and tried to rip it off of her head.  She was harassed for three years. Ms. Bashir initially complained to Human Resources but nothing changed.  She then filed a complaint with the EEOC.  She was subsequently terminated.


The jury awarded her the five million in punitive damages on top of $120,000 in actual damages.