A civil rights group accuses workers at a McDonald's restaurant in Massachusetts of intentionally putting bacon on a fish sandwich that a Muslim woman ordered for one of her children.
NBC Boston reports that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed a discrimination complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination on the woman's behalf.
Pork is forbidden in Islamic Law
The complaint said that the McDonald's employees willfully added bacon to the complainant's food to offend, humiliate and cause distress to the woman and her young children.
Eating pork is Haram or is forbidden by Islamic law.
The woman, Ghadir Alahmar, who was wearing a hijab and an abaya, entered the store on June 29, 2021, with her twin seven-year-old son. She ordered a plain fish sandwich, and one of her children repeated the order to a worker in case they did not understand Alahmar's accent.
They received their order, including fries and cookies, and left the restaurant. They walked to a school playground nearby, where they planned to eat it. One of Alahmar's sons noticed the bacon.
According to the complaint, Alahmar told her son not to eat the sandwich. However, her son was so hungry and ate the lower half of the bun and part of the fish filet. The sandwich also appeared to have extra bacon. A copy of the family's receipt indicated that the family had an additional charge of $1.59 for "ONLY Two Half Strips Bacon."
Alahmar's husband returned to the store with the uneaten portion of the sandwich that same evening and was refunded the purchase price and the upcharge for the bacon.
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Religious discrimination
According to New York Post, Barbara Dougan, a CAIR lawyer, stated that "religious discrimination" in public accommodation is "illegal and morally reprehensible." She added that the restaurant has gone low by tampering with a young child's food.
Alahmar said that the food giant made her children feel unwanted and worthless by intentionally stuffing a fish sandwich full of bacon due to the incident. The act, according to her, was meant to punish the family for its faith and religious convictions.
As per the complaint, the incident left one of the children to ask, "Why did they do this? Do they hate us?"
The Muslim mom added that the incident hurt the family. The children are now wondering if they are welcome in their own country and if people hate them. As a mom, she said she could not answer these questions.
Lesson for McDonald's
According to Dougan, the complaint is the first step in seeking monetary damages. She hopes that the incident will prompt McDonald's Corporation to train its workers on religious sensitivities to prevent a similar incident.
As of this writing, its corporate headquarters in Chicago and the restaurant on Meadow Street in Chicopee where the incident happened have not given any comment on the incident, CBS News reports.
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