KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has accused Chipotle of religious harassment and retaliation after a manager at a Kansas restaurant grabbed and partly removed a Muslim employee’s hijab when she refused his demands to see her hair.

The EEOC filed the lawsuit Thursday, Sept. 28, in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas, on behalf of Areej Saifan, who worked at the Chipotle Mexican Grill.

The EEOC contends in the three-count suit that Chipotle deprived Saifan of equal employment opportunities because of the harassment based on her Muslim faith, the hostile work environment that forced her to resign and the retaliation that followed when she complained.

In a statement responding to the suit, Laurie Schalow, Chipotle’s chief corporate affairs officer, said that the company encourages employees to contact the company, including through an anonymous 800 number, with concerns so that they can be investigated and respond “to make things right.”

“We have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind and we have terminated the employee in question,” Schalow said.

The EEOC, however, contends that the manager was not terminated for the harassment, rather it was for engaging in a romantic relationship with another supervisor, which was against company policy.

According to the lawsuit, Chipotle hired Saifan in 2020 as a line server at the Lenexa location. In observance of her faith, she wears a hijab, including when she worked for Chipotle.

At the time, Kevin Silva Garcia was assistant manager for the restaurant and supervised Saifan.

Beginning in early July 2021, Garcia began asking Saifan, who was 19 years old at the time, to remove her hijab because “he wanted to see her hair,” the suit contends.

Saifan declined, explaining she wore it because of her religious beliefs. She also told him requests to see her hair were inappropriate for the workplace and that removing her hijab would be similar to taking off clothing and exposing her body, according to the suit.

Garcia, however, continued to pressure Saifan, demanding that she let him see her hair approximately 10 to 15 times over the course of about a month, the lawsuit says.

Some of the requests were made in front of other employees, including Kim Benavente-Fernandez, who was a shift manager and also supervised Saifan.

She complained to Benavente-Fernandez about the harassment, saying it was unwelcome and made her uncomfortable.

Benavente-Fernandez told Garcia he should stop asking to see Saifan’s hair, but never took any further actions to stop him, the suit contends. Benavente-Fernandez also failed to report the alleged harassment to higher management, which the suit contends violated Chipotle’s policies.

The lawsuit identified Benavente-Fernandez as the person who was in the romantic relationship with Garcia.

NY Democrat sets off fire alarm during shutdown talks

WASHINGTON — A fire alarm went off in a Capitol Hill building Saturday, Sept. 30, adding to the tension as U.S. lawmakers worked to hash out a last-minute deal to avoid a government shutdown.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat from New York, is accused of pulling a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building, where U.S. representatives have their offices. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he would seek an ethics investigation into the incident, which Bowman said was a “mistake.”

“This should not go without punishment,” McCarthy told reporters.

Bowman told reporters he had been trying to open a door. “It was a mistake. That’s all it was,” he said. “McCarthy is trying to weaponize an innocent mistake.”

The U.S. Capitol Police said it is investigating the incident, which it said took place at 12:05 p.m. on the second floor and prompted an evacuation order. Pulling a fire alarm is a misdemeanor in some jurisdictions.

The U.S. Committee on House Administration said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it would also investigate why the fire alarm was pulled. The comment, attributed to Chairman Bryan Steil, a Republican representative from Wisconsin, was confirmed by the committee.

The incident was caught on camera, according to Politico. The alarm added to the already tense scene on Capitol Hill, with McCarthy working to sidestep hard-liners in his own party to secure a government funding deal ahead of a midnight deadline for shutdown. The plan was tweaked to gain Democratic support, and the Senate can then take it up before — or soon after — the midnight deadline.

Sea lion at Central Park Zoo escapes flooded enclosure

NEW YORK — A sea lion got a taste of freedom — and murky brown floodwaters — after a deluge of rain battering NYC caused the Central Park Zoo sea lion pool to flood over on Friday, Sept. 29.

The zoo was closed on Sept. 29 because of the inclement weather — but the intrepid sea lion swam outside her enclosure as several inches of rain overwhelmed the plaza around the pool.

“A female sea lion at Central Park Zoo was able to swim out of her pool due to flooding of the plaza caused by severe rains in New York City today,” Jim Breheny, Executive Vice President of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Zoos and Aquariums said in a statement.

However, freedom apparently turned out to be not all it was cracked up to be, and she soon turned around and went back home.

“Zoo staff monitored the sea lion as she explored the area before returning to the familiar surroundings of the pool and the company of the other two sea lions,” Breheny added.

The Wildlife Conservation Society oversees the Central Park Zoo, as well as the Bronx Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo and the New York Aquarium.

Central Park received nearly 6 inches of rain on Sept. 29, according to the National Weather Service — levels not seen since Hurricane Ida in 2021.

Widespread flooding and sustained heavy rain across the city prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams to declare New York City under a state of emergency. At least 150 school buildings flooded and a half-dozen people were pulled from flooded basements by the FDNY.

Breheny said that water levels have since receded, and that all animals are now contained in their exhibits. No staff or visitors were endangered, and no animals escaped the zoo entirely.

“Animal care staff will continue to monitor the situation through the duration of the weather event,” Breheny said.