When Miriam* arrived at LabCorp in Ballard, WA for an employer-required drug test, she expected to be treated like any other patient. Instead, she was asked by an employee to follow her into a backroom where she was forced to remove her hijab and submit to a physical search of her hair for “security purposes.” While Miriam protestested the violation of both her religious beliefs and bodily autonomy, having to undergo a physical pat-down that no other patient in the lab appeared subject to, the laboratory technician insisted that he was simply following national corporate policy.
Deeply disturbed at being singled out as a hijab-wearing Muslim woman and forced to endure discrimination and humiliation by LabCorp staff, Miriam contacted me at CAIR Washington. I wrote a demand letter to LabCorp's national headquarters, threatening both legal action and a media campaign if this situation was not immediately rectified. After meeting with the company's legal team, I was able to secure a written admission of fault and apology for my client, and LabCorp agreed to work with me to re-draft their national policies regarding test security and patients wearing religious head coverings. This policy change will have significant impact, not only for hijab-wearing Muslim women, but for males and females of other religions, as well.
*Story shared with permission, but name changed for security