AT&T To Pay Muslim Woman $5 Million For Religious Discrimination

, a former Kansas City woman who converted to Islam back in 2005, was awarded $5 million in punitive damages after the woman was harassed for her religious beliefs, while working at AT&T.

Court documents indicated that Bashir stated that her co-workers harassed her after she became a Muslim. She indicated that they made harassing remarks pertaining to her religion and would refer to her hijab as “that thing on her head.”

The former fiber optics network builder with AT&T was quoted by the Kansas City Star having said:

“I was shocked. I thought, ‘What is going?’ Nobody ever cared what I wore before. Nobody ever cared what religion I was before.”

After having worked at AT&T’s Kansas City office for 10 years, Susann was fired from her lucrative $70,000 a year job where she claimed she endured religious discrimination virtually every day of her final three years of work. She claims she was called a “towelhead” and a terrorist in addition to being asked if she was going to blow up the building.

Thursday’s Jackson County jury verdict appears to be the largest jury verdict for a workplace discrimination lawsuit in Missouri history, KansasCity.com reported.

AT&T stated Friday that they disagreed with the jury’s verdict and were intend on appealing. Regardless, Bashir’s actual take will prove to be significantly less than the $5 million the jury awarded her. She’s also to be compensated $120,000 in lost wages and other damages.

After calling an employee helpline back in March of 2005, she was quoted having said:

“It was a worthless call. Nothing ever changed.”

She filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, who eventually launched an investigation into the religious discrimination of Bashir.

She indicated that the ordeal took a toll on her mentally, physically, and ultimately tore her family apart. Currently going through a divorce, Susann has moved herself and her daughter to Anchorage, Alaska, where she’s currently employed as an apartment manager. In regards to where she’s at now, Bashir was quoted having said:

“I have mixed feelings. I’m happy not to be reporting to that management structure. But it’s hard in this economy to find a job with that level of compensation. I didn’t want to lose my job, because I felt I was doing good work.”

What are your thoughts on the jury’s decision to subject AT&T to what is quite possibly the largest jury verdict in a Missouri workplace discrimination case?