A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today challenged a "separate but equal" Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) policy that treats customers wearing religious head coverings differently than other customers.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said a Muslim customer at an NFCU branch in California, Md., reported that she was singled out twice by bank officials because of her religiously-mandated head scarf, or hijab.
In February, the Muslim customer, who has been banking with NFCU since 1992, was removed from the waiting line and taken to a back office to complete her transaction. She was reportedly told that she would have to conduct her business in a separate area every time she came to the bank.
On March 7th, the Muslim customer was again asked to step out of line but left the bank after refusing to complete her transaction in a back office.
Last month, Virginia-based NFCU told CAIR that it would remind employees that the bank's new "no hats, hoods and sunglasses" policy does not prohibit Muslim customers or staff from wearing hijabs. The reminder came after a Muslim NFCU customer was denied service at a branch in San Diego, Calif., despite telling bank officials that she wears her head scarf for religious reasons. NFCU offered that Muslim customer a personal apology.
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