New Mexico diner sued by agency for religious discrimination

Federal authorities say the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued a diner in Farmington, New Mexico for subjecting a Muslim woman to religious discrimination by refusing to let her wear a head scarf.

Elizabeth Cadle, director of the agency’s five-state district office in Phoenix, said Tuesday the commission sued the Blue Moon Diner for refusing employee Samantha Bandy’s request to work while wearing a hijab, a head scarf some Muslim women wear. The commission also alleges Bandy was fired because of her religion.

A man who answered the telephone at the diner said he had no knowledge of the lawsuit and hung up.

The lawsuit asks that Bandy be given back wages and compensatory and punitive damages, and that the diner be permanently banned from engaging in religious discrimination.