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Missouri woman wins $5M in discrimination suit

— A Muslim woman who was fired from her job with AT&T says years of harassment hit a peak when her boss snatched her scarf from her head and exposed her hair.

A Jackson County jury awarded former Kansas City resident Susann Bashir $5 million in punitive damages Thursday, along with $120,000 in lost wages and other actual damages.

The Kansas City Star reports the award appears to be the largest jury verdict for a workplace discrimination case in Missouri history.

Bashir says the harassment began soon after she converted to Islam in 2005. She was fired after she left work in 2008 because of stress after filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, then didn’t come back for nine months.

AT&T says it plans to appeal.

Comments

ROBERT LEA Oldearkie says...

They got off light. The woman will keep about 67% after taxes.

Posted 5 May 2012, 3:11 p.m. Suggest removal

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