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On commerce and religion

"They told us that we cannot pray at sunset," Abdi H. Nuur says. "They told us that we would have to wait for our break."

Nuur and 29 other Somali Muslims who worked at Dell Computer's Nashville plant say they were forced to choose between their faith and their employment.

A Dell spokesman declined to comment about the cases, saying the company had not received a specific complaint.

"Dell values diversity in all areas, and that includes religious beliefs," Dell spokesman Mark Drury said. "The company's practice is to accommodate religious beliefs, so long as the accommodations are reasonable, don't disrupt business operations and are consistent with our policies on operating a respectful workplace."

Posted by Nancy McLaughlin on March 10, 2005 2:17 PM | Permalink

Comments (10)

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Eric said:

I feel sympathy for the folks who are upset over their work requirements. I would have thought that such questions would have been settled at the time of job acceptance. I expect this is a cultural issue. In Somalia, I would think it's an unspoken expetation that prayer requirements are built into work schedules. Too bad these folks were never advised to speak about such assumptions with employers.

Posted on March 10, 2005 4:07 PM

F Reid said:

A companies economy can not suffer because of one religious beliefs.
When one applies for employment he must be willing to work the prescribed schedule.
No one should expect to be excused to attend a religious service daily.

Posted on March 11, 2005 2:32 AM

mrproduce said:

"Nuur and 29 other Somali Muslims who worked at Dell Computer's Nashville plant say they were forced to choose between their faith and their employment."

If these folks were working in their own country I am sure that some kind of accomodations would have been made. However, these folks are living and working in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville is not Somali, not a Muslim town or country. To stop production to satisfy 29 people is ridiculous.
They can pray on their break and keep in mind, that it is sunset somewhere in the world all the time.

Posted on March 11, 2005 9:39 AM

Yvonne said:

mrproduce is right. Nothing aganist these Muslims or members of any religious belief but THEY are HERE in AMERICA. If exceptions are made for any one group or faith, then exceptions would have to be made for all. This would create even more pressure on companies to outsource in order to make the same amount they would make here,ie, less productivity due to interruptions in work schedules to accommodate every employee.

It is not the responsibility of any company to accommodate religious activities. If someone finds they cannot serve their god AND perform the duties they were hired to do, then they need to find employment elsewhere. Let them go to work for someone who can and are willing to accommodate their needs. But don't go to work for a company and demand the company change their policies to suit your needs, regardless of who you are.

Posted on March 14, 2005 5:22 AM

mrproduce said:

Yvonne, you hit the nail on the head. Companies should not have to make special accomodations or time for a few.
If their god requires them to go to a separate place and point their head in the direction of a certain place maybe they should question whether they are praying to their god or to a place.
I find that I can pray, standing, sitting, driving, working, or any place that I am without any special accomodations or anyone giving me a special time to do such.

Posted on March 14, 2005 7:03 PM

Eric said:

That's of course fine for a person with your religion, mrproduce. But what of the other religions out there, that specify a little more rigidly what constitutes prayer and are a little more specific about when it must be done?

A little empathy and understanding might help make the world a slightly better place for everyone to live, eh?

Posted on March 15, 2005 7:48 AM

mrproduce said:

As I said before Eric. It's always sundown somewhere in the world. I am sure it will line up with break time.

Posted on March 17, 2005 10:09 AM

Eric said:

Something tells me that some folks would see such a thought as a rationalization, an attempt to dodge a holy responsibility. Taking that sort of path would lead one to pray at any 5 times of the day that one would find convenient... putting the worshipper's desires and convenience ahead of almighty Allah's orders. I'm guessing that idea wouldn't fly with most Muslims, don't you?

Posted on March 17, 2005 12:37 PM

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