Muslim flight attendant sues airline over serving alcohol requirement

A Muslim flight attendant has filed a lawsuit against her former employer ExpressJet claiming that she was improperly suspended after she declined to serve alcohol on religious grounds, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The legal action was submitted last week on Charee Stanley's behalf by the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

According to The Guardian, court documents indicate that, in 2013, she converted to Islam and got her job with the airline in the same year.

For about a year-and-a-half, Stanley claims to have performed all her duties until she realized one day that her religion not only prohibited her from consuming alcohol herself but also serving it to others.

So she and her supervisor came up with a compromise where a fellow flight attendant would give passengers alcohol on her behalf, noted WJBK.

However, a co-worker reportedly complained about this and other religious behaviors, and, in August 2015, ExpressJet agreed, allegedly threatening Stanley's job security if she did not serve alcohol.

Later that month, she was released on leave without pay.

According to the Michigan chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations, the lawsuit blames the airline for failing to provide Stanley "a reasonable religious accommodation and wrongfully suspending her from her employment."

She is hoping to be awarded "back pay and other damages."

ExpressJet declined to comment on the case but has expressed its support of diversity.

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