A newly recruited female employee at a Karachi-based software house was discriminated against on the basis of her attire and asked to either stop wearing her hijab at work or resign, it emerged on Friday.
The incident came to light through a Facebook post which detailed how the female recruit, just a few days into her employment with Creative Chaos, was purportedly asked by her manager that she could keep her job only if she takes off her hijab.
The said person told told local media that the implication was that hijab would spoil the company’s image as an “all-embracing workplace”.
The discriminatory policy was reportedly defended in a meeting of the affected employee with the company’s chief executive, who, the woman claims, refused to make the demand in writing but pushed her to resign, even recommending her two Islamic banks as possible alternatives.
Furthermore, the victim says that she was warned not to consider legal options against the company.
After the Facebook post narrating the incident went viral and drew sharp criticism on social media, the company’s CEO publicly confirmed that the incident had indeed taken place, and also issued an apology.
“Yesterday, a senior member of our staff asked a colleague to resign on unprofessional and unethical grounds,” admitted Jawwad Kadir. “She was told that her obligations may come in the way of her performance.
“Not only is this action disgraceful but shows extremely poor moral judgement by her hiring manager. I take full responsibility for this failure and am deeply ashamed that a colleague was put through distress and trauma.”
Kadir, in his public apology, stated that the manager responsible has been suspended and a transparent inquiry ordered. Moreover, he said that the victim has been asked to withdraw her resignation and resume her job.
However, his statement made no mention of the employee’s claim that he himself had also asked her to resign on the controversial grounds.
A local newspaper approached Kadir for clarification; he had not responded till the time this story was published.
