KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chipotle Mexican Grill fired an assistant manager at its Lenexa, Kansas, location after an employee alleged the manager removed a hijab from her head.
In a press release from Aug. 16, the Kansas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called for the firing of the assistant manager, alleging the manager "repeatedly harassed and assaulted a female Muslim employee who wears the hijab, or Islamic head scarf."
According to CAIR, the manager had asked to see the employee's hair on several occasions. The employee explained that she wears the hijab for religious reasons and therefore did not remove it.
On Aug. 9, the manager once again asked to see the employee's hair and she once again refused.
After her refusal, the assistant manager allegedly "proceeded to forcibly pull the employee's hijab off."
The employee reported the incident to the general manager of the location and the regional field manager, who said the incident would be dealt with and resolved.
Monday, a representative for the company said the assistant manager was fired in mid August.
"We have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind and we terminated the employee in question nearly two weeks ago following a thorough investigation," Laurie Schalow, chief corporate affairs officer with Chipotle, said in a statement to KSHB 41 News. "Chipotle’s engaged and hard-working employees are what makes us great, and we encourage our employees to contact us immediately, including through an anonymous 800 number, with any concerns so we can investigate and respond quickly to make things right."
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