McDonald's "Refuses To Serve Woman Because She's Wearing A Hijab"
3 December 2017, 10:36 | Updated: 3 December 2017, 10:57
A McDonald's security guard has been suspended after ordering a Muslim woman to remove her hijab.
McDonald's has suspended a security guard after he instructed a 19-year-old student to remove her hijab if she wanted to enter the restaurant.
He asked the woman to "just take it off" in spite of her defiant pleas against what she called "a hate crime."
She refused to remove her headscarf but the security guard persisted - a member of the public even intervened to tell the guard he could not prevent the woman from being served on the basis of her religion.
My friend was refused service at a McDonalds today in London because she was wearing a Hijab. When she started recording the incident, she was told to stop but thankfully didn’t. Thank you to the kind man who defended her against the security guard and employees at the store...
— Sabrina (@south_sab) November 30, 2017
"Why can’t I come in to McDonald’s? Because I’m wearing a hijab?," she said. "I’m so shocked right now. I’ve been living in the UK for 19 years and this is the first time I’m faced with this kind of discrimination."
"I will never walk into a McDonald’s again.
"I thought: ‘It’s finally happening to me,' like it has to so many hijabis. It didn’t feel real because I had seen so many videos like this and it was finally happening to me in real life. I was in so much disbelief.
"The friend I was with was shocked and scared, and said it was a risky situation. When it was over, I finally realised how these situations can become dangerous. This is not a one-off thing."
The incident took place at the restaurant on Seven Sisters Road, in North London.
A company spokesperson said: "McDonald’s has no policy which restricts or prevents anyone wearing a hijab, or any other religious attire, from entering our restaurants.
"We welcome customers of all faiths and sincerely apologise for this situation.
"We are taking this matter very seriously and are addressing the situation with the individuals involved; the security guard, from a third party company, has been suspended."
Watch the moment at the top of this page.
