---
title: "Abercrombie hijab firing highlights Muslim concern about discrimination"
description: "A federal judge ruled this week that the clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch wrongly fired a Muslim employee in San Mateo, Calif., for wearing a headscarf. About six-in-ten Muslim American women (59%) say they wear the headcover (or hijab) at least some of the time, including 36% who say they wear it whenever they are in public."
date: "2013-09-11"
authors:
  - name: "Michael Lipka"
    job_title: "Associate Director, Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/michael-lipka/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/09/11/abercrombie-hijab-firing-highlights-muslim-concern-about-discrimination/"
categories:
  - "Islam"
  - "Muslim Americans"
---

# Abercrombie hijab firing highlights Muslim concern about discrimination

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/09/GunControl.png?w=221)](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/09/GunControl.png)

![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/09/FT_13.09.11_HaniKhan_300x300.jpg)
*Hani Khan, a former stockroom worker for Abercrombie & Fitch Co., was fired for refusing to remove her Muslim headscarf. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)*

A federal judge ruled this week that the clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch wrongly fired a Muslim employee in San Mateo, Calif., for wearing a headscarf. The retailer said the look of its employees is part of its marketing strategy, but, [according to the Associated Press](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/judge-abercrombie-wrongly-fired-muslim-hijab), the judge found no "credible evidence" that the employee’s headscarf affected sales.

The company said it does not discriminate based on religion. Abercrombie has been the target of [discrimination suits in the past](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/17/national/17settle.html), brought by black, Hispanic and Asian employees and job applicants.

About six-in-ten Muslim American women (59%) say they wear the headcover (or hijab) at least some of the time, including 36% who say they wear it whenever they are in public, according to a 2011 [Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2011/08/30/section-2-religious-beliefs-and-practices/).

[![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2011/08/2010-muslim-americans-s4-04.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2011/08/30/section-4-challenges-worries-and-concerns/)

The same survey also explored the most important problems Muslim Americans say they face. One-in-five U.S. Muslims (20%) mention discrimination, prejudice and unfair treatment. Nearly three-in-ten (29%) point to negative views about Muslims, 15% mention ignorance about Islam and 7% indicate religious and cultural problems between Muslims and non-Muslims. Only 16% say there are no problems facing Muslim Americans.

Younger Muslim Americans are more likely to say they have faced hostility due to their religion. More than half (56%) of U.S. Muslims ages 18-29 say they have been treated with suspicion, called offensive names, singled out by law enforcement or physically threatened in the year prior to the survey. By comparison, 35% of Muslim Americans ages 30 and older say at least one of those things has happened to them.