(Source: Areej Abuqudairi Jordan Times(MCT) — Former Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank (JDIB) employee Vivian Salameh said on Monday that she would take legal action against the bank for arbitrary dismissal after she refused to abide by a new policy requiring female employees to cover their hair.
“As a Christian, I am not expected to cover my hair. I refused to wear a headscarf when the bank asked me to,” Salameh, who was working as an assistant manager of corporate operations for JDIB before she lost her job last week, told The Jordan Times.
Salameh said she had been working for the Industrial Development Bank, which JDIB acquired in 2010, since 1985.
In January 2011, the bank introduced a new dress code requiring female staff to wear a uniform and a white headscarf. Salameh accepted the uniform but refused to wear the head cover on the grounds that it violated her religious beliefs and because her initial contract with the bank in March 2010 did not include a dress code requiring staff to wear a head cover.
“I accepted the uniform but not the head cover because the contract I signed with the bank in 2010 did not state that I had to cover my hair. I am not against hijab. I respect the fact that they wear it in the Gulf, but we are in Jordan and our Constitution guarantees freedom of religion,” she said.
Eman Affaneh, a spokeswoman from JDIB, stated in a telephone interview with The Jordan Times that Salameh was officially dismissed from her job last Wednesday because “she did not comply with the bank’s policy although she had been warned several times verbally and twice in writing”.
Salameh said although she had been warned by her employer, she was given very short notice before being fired.
“I am shocked by how quickly it happened. I was given a written warning on May 15 after which I complained to the Ministry of Labour and the National Centre for Human Rights. Then I received a warning on May 21 and was fired on May 22,” she said.
Salameh said she had been negotiating with the bank and had finally reached an agreement through the National Centre for Human Rights to allow her “to put the scarf on the shoulders only” because she was not dealing with clients.
“But when I went to take the scarf, I found a notice of dismissal. I am really shocked. I worked there for 25 years. It is like home to me,” she added.
Affaneh said the bank had consulted the Ministry of Labour before firing Salameh and that its decision was “in compliance” with Article 28 of the Jordanian Labour Law, which states that an employer may dismiss a worker without notice if “the worker, in spite of receiving two written warnings, fails to observe the internal regulations of the establishment, including safety regulations”.
Legal advisers from the Ministry of Labour could not be reached for comment despite several attempts by The Jordan Times to contact them.
Both Affaneh and Salameh mentioned that other Christian and Muslim employees had accepted to wear the headscarf at work.
Affaneh indicated that the new policy required female staff who work in branches and serve clients to wear a full headscarf, but “it is not as strict” for women not dealing directly with clients.
“We are an Islamic institution. We serve all groups of society based on the guidelines of Islamic Sharia, which include modesty,” she added.
A new dress code for men working at JDIB should be introduced soon, Affaneh added.
Mohammad Musa, a legal adviser at Mizan Law Group for Human Rights, said that Salameh’s dismissal was unacceptable from a human rights perspective.
“It is in breach of the Jordanian Constitution and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCP), which was published in the Official Gazette,” Musa said.
“Article 18 of the ICCP says that no one should be coerced to do anything which could be against their religious beliefs and values. Therefore, we can say their decision is a violation of her rights,” he added.
The ICCP, which Jordan signed in 1972, came into force when it was published in the Official Gazette in 2006.
Salameh confirmed to The Jordan Times that her lawyer would take her case to court on Tuesday.
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©2012 the Jordan Times (Amman, Jordan)
Visit the Jordan Times (Amman, Jordan) at www.jordantimes.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Source: Areej Abuqudairi Jordan Times(MCT)
She apparantly thinks wearing the veil is a sin/goes against christianity.. Oh my, if the first christians would have heard!!!!
“She and Salameh said that five other Christian women employees at the bank accepted wearing the headcover”. Well, no wonder they did if they where christians! A white veil and a cross is like THE “devoted christian”-look! All the saints pictured with white veils.. They must have been happy to get that colour! But I don´t think this woman loves christianity so much. Now if they would have forbidden her from wearing a cross, her statement would be logical. But a cloth on the head showing the hairline and a cross around the neck.. That is THE “traditionally-christian” look everywhere in the world. She can sue them, but not on religious grounds. Because even most muslims knows that Mary, the very mother of christ, was veiled. Did that violate her christianity? That is just absurd.
In the quran the veil is mentioned as something the women already wore before Islam. It prescribes modesty in terms of covering THE BOSSOM with the veil. But the spiritual SYMBOLISM of THE HEADCOVERING IN ITSELF is ONLY to be found in the New testament. That´s right, not an old testament-law, but in the NEW. That kind of makes the headcovering christian.
I don´t think this woman is so devoted to being christian after all. If she would have been, she would have known this. She would have read the long, intricate explanation about the glory of God, the glory of men, the spiritual symbolism of the veil, the symbolism of the beauty in womens long hair and about the angels. (1 Corinthians, chapter 11) And if christianity was REALLY important to her, she would have studied the original language. For example this text says to cover the peribolaion (the long hair of a woman that covers her back) with a katakalupto ( a long, draping veil). Just as we all can see the first christian women did on old iconic paintings. This is also the testament that tells people to always rejoice, pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances. (1 Thessalonians 16-18) Ever wondered why nuns wear veils all the time? They always give thanks to God! (I´ve talked to several nuns and other devoted christians.)
And another serious thing; some of the first christians prayed to God to forgive the people WHILE they where freakin STONING THEM TO DEATH! They where the followers of Christ, knowing he had showed them the way to salvation- forgiveness. (And they remembered when he was crusified he prayed to God to forgive the people, saying they did not know what they where doing.) But this so called “christian” woman first makes the veil into some sin and then instead of forgiving others she is SUING and going out in the papers to get publicity all over the world… Just like the people that wanted to be seen as righteous by the people of a certain culture rather than follow christianity.
christian?(Quote) (Reply)
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