Woman fired for wearing hijab in US

In a case of alleged discrimination in the US, a young Muslim woman was fired from her job at a dental clinic for wearing a hijab as her employer wanted to keep a “neutral environment” in office.

Najaf Khan, who was hired as a dental assistant at Fair Oaks Dental Care in Fairfax County, Virginia, said she was fired from the new job because she wore a Muslim headscarf to work.

“I was really upset. The day that it happened, I was devastated,” Ms Khan told NBC Washington.

She did not wear the hijab for her interview or on the first two days of employment. On the third day, she chose to wear it because she felt that she would stay at the job and wearing it was part of her spiritual journey, she said.

At work that day, she said the clinic’s owner, Dr Chuck Joo, told her to take off the hijab.

Dr Joo told her they wanted to keep a “neutral environment” in office. He asked her to remove it because the headscarf would offend patients and he wanted to keep religion out of the office.