Justice Delivered To Sikh Woman In Us

[Azaad]

New York, December 15

A Sikh woman who suffered racial, religious and sexual harassment on the job has obtained justice by standing up to her employer. An amount of more than a quarter million dollars has been awarded to her and eight others.

Sukhbir Kaur's former employer, a privately held discount retailer National Wholesale Liquidators (NWL), which sells home utilities and electronics at discounted and wholesale prices, agreed to make changes to their employment policies and pay damages to nine harassment victims, including Kaur, according to a news release issued by the Sikh Coalition.

''The settlement sends a strong message to private employers that discrimination against the Sikhs is illegal and will be harshly punished,'' the release said. Kaur's lawsuit alleged that in 2004, an NWL store manager harassed her because ''she was a Sikh, a woman and an Indian''. The manager told her to remove her turban because she ''would appear sexier without it.'' When she refused the manager's repeated advances, he told her that she was not permitted to use the bathroom. The NWL failed to take appropriate action to address and correct the harassment, even after Kaur complained. Instead, she was fired.

The issue was first brought to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s attention in July 2005, when the Sikh Coalition filed a charge of discrimination on her behalf with the EEOC. The EEOC, subsequently, conducted an investigation and found that many South Asian workers at the NWL in Queens, a New York borough, were being harassed.

[NavtejS]

New York, December 15

A Sikh woman who suffered racial, religious and sexual harassment on the job has obtained justice by standing up to her employer. An amount of more than a quarter million dollars has been awarded to her and eight others.

Sukhbir Kaur's former employer, a privately held discount retailer National Wholesale Liquidators (NWL), which sells home utilities and electronics at discounted and wholesale prices, agreed to make changes to their employment policies and pay damages to nine harassment victims, including Kaur, according to a news release issued by the Sikh Coalition.

''The settlement sends a strong message to private employers that discrimination against the Sikhs is illegal and will be harshly punished,'' the release said. Kaur's lawsuit alleged that in 2004, an NWL store manager harassed her because ''she was a Sikh, a woman and an Indian''. The manager told her to remove her turban because she ''would appear sexier without it.'' When she refused the manager's repeated advances, he told her that she was not permitted to use the bathroom. The NWL failed to take appropriate action to address and correct the harassment, even after Kaur complained. Instead, she was fired.

The issue was first brought to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)'s attention in July 2005, when the Sikh Coalition filed a charge of discrimination on her behalf with the EEOC. The EEOC, subsequently, conducted an investigation and found that many South Asian workers at the NWL in Queens, a New York borough, were being harassed.

respect to our bhenji for fighting for justice! Too many people let things like this slide.