A Muslim woman was terminated  for wearing a hijab from her job at a dental clinic as her employer wanted to keep a “neutral environment” in office.

Najaf Khan was working as a dental assistant at Fair Oaks Dental Care in Fairfax County, Virginia. She  said that, she was terminated because she wore a Muslim head scarf to work.

NBC Washington reported, Ms. Khan said that, “I was really upset. The day that it happened, I was devastated.” She did not wear the hijab for her interview or on the first two days of employment. She chose to wear it On the third day, because she felt that she would stay at the job and wearing it was part of her spiritual journey.

Adding to this, she said that, the owner of Fair Oaks Dental Care, Dr. Chuck Joo, told her to take off the hijab.Dr. Joo told her that they wanted to keep a “neutral environment” in office.

Ms. Khan said that, “When I said that I would not compromise my religion for that, he held the door open for me and I walked out.”

Dr. Joo was quoted as saying that open displays of religion are not allowed at his business because he wants to keep it neutral. If his employees want to wear a hat, it must be a surgical hat for sanitary reasons, Dr. Joo said.

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) said that, “No employee should face termination because of his or her faith or religious practices. We call on Fair Oaks Dental Care to reinstate the Muslim employee and to offer her reasonable religious accommodation as mandated by law.”

Ms. Khan said she would likely refuse an offer to return to the dental office.

“I was astonished because he (boss) had been saying I had been doing so well. I received an email Friday morning (July 29) saying how much positive enthusiasm I was bringing into the dental office,” she said.

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Nandini