Source: USA TODAY

On June 25, 1999, USA Today published an article looking at the problems Muslims have encountered in the United States' workplace. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and its affiliates received 440 complaints from Muslims in 1998, up 42% from 1994. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) received 135 workplace discrimination complaints for the year ending March 1999, up 13% from the same period last year. CAIR's Ibrahim Hooper stated: "Our biggest obstacle has been ignorance on the part of employers - not prejudice." Once many employers learn more about Islam, many of them accommodate the religious needs of their Muslim employees, but some Muslim women still experience problems wearing a hijab, or headscarf, and Muslim men experience problems when they need to pray on Friday afternoon or when they grow facial hair. Kamran Memon, an American-born son of Pakistani immigrants who is a discrimination lawyer, stated: "More Muslims are willing to come forward because they are feeling more at home in America." CAIR provides sensitivity training to businesses and has distributed 15,000 copies of its Employer's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices. Anne McMahon, a professor of management and member of Partners for Workplace Diversity in Youngstown, Ohio, stated: "Employers have to accommodate religious and cultural values if they want to take advantage of all the talents, contacts and networking opportunities people have to offer."