The truckers, Mahad Abass Mohamed and Abdikarim Hassan Bulshale, said delivering alcohol was against their religious beliefs They were fired by the company, Star Transport, in 2009 The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued on their behalf They were awarded the cash earlier this month The company has gone out of business
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A jury has awarded $240,000 to two Muslim men who say they were fired from an Illinois trucking company after refusing to deliver beer.
A judge found Morton, Illinois-based Star Transport Inc. violated the religious beliefs of Mahad Abass Mohamed and Abdikarim Hassan Bulshale.
A trial to determine whether they were entitled to damages ended October 20 with the jury's judgment.
A 2013 lawsuit filed by U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said the men were fired in 2009 after they wouldn't deliver alcohol because it was against their religious values as practicing Muslims.
The lawsuit claimed the company didn't provide them 'with a reasonable accommodation and by terminating them because of their religion.'
For devout Muslims, consuming or even being near alcohol is prohibited.
The EEOC argued that the company could have easily reassigned the two, who are of Somalian heritage.
The company admitted liability earlier this year.
Chief U.S. District Judge James Shadid had found in favor of the commission in March, after the company admitted liability.
June Calhoun, one of the commission's attorneys on the case, said Star Transport didn't provide discrimination training to human resources staff, leading to "catastrophic results' for the two men 'This is an awesome outcome. Star Transport failed to provide any discrimination training to its human resources personnel, which led to catastrophic results for these employees.
'They suffered real injustice that needed to be addressed,' Calhoun said in a statement. 'By this verdict, the jury remedied the injustice by sending clear messages to Star Transport and other employers that they will be held accountable for their unlawful employment practices.'
The commission had tried to work with Star Transport on the issue a year before the lawsuit was filed, court records say.
It's not clear whether the men will get the money, the Peoria Journal Star reports, as Star Transport went out of business earlier this year.
Judge Andrew Napolitano appeared on Fox News to say it was unfair that Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis was jailed for not performing her duties due to her religious beliefs, while the truckers make a killing.
In June, the Supreme Court agreed that Abercrombie & Fitch had discriminated against a Muslim woman who wore a headscarf because it didn't jibe with their dress code, reported the New York Times.
Samantha Elauf was awarded $20,000 by a previous jury
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I'm pleased to see that the company went out of business, so they are probably not going to get any money. Their lawyers too.
Ed they didn't go out of business, they will just re open under a different name and not hire muslims. problem solved for the,.
Yes. I've seen it with other businesses, they owe a lot of money, so they sell any assets they have (cheap to relatives or partners), close, file bankruptcy ..
and reopen with a new name, maybe a different address.
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