Jeffrey Quick's Blog

First the taxis, then the checkout line

Apparently, the Caliphate of Minneapolis is developing right on schedule:

I'm a reporter who covers Target for the Star Tribune and the other day, I got a call from someone who said that an employee at the Target store downtown refused to run his bacon through a scanning machine. He was mighty upset, arguing that the cashier had "no right to work as a cashier at Target" if she wasn't prepared to swipe his groceries.

But he was a little vague on the details, so I decided to check it out myself. At the Target store on E. Lake Street, a cashier wearing a hijab looked uncomfortable when I showed up at the cash register with a frozen pepperoni pizza. She immediately called for help, and another employee rang up the pizza and placed it in the basket.

I asked her if it was because she was Muslim, and she nodded her head. "I can't even touch it," she said.

If she was "touching pork", then there was something very unsanitary about the packaging. And maybe she should have been wearing gloves. I'm all for people honoring their religious taboos, on their own time. If I'd been in line and this had happened to me, I probably would have left my entire order at the checkout and walked out. This is not the way to treat customers.

The question is whether this is policy at that particular Target, or if it is corporate policy. Apparently Serres didn't speak to a manager, who could have clarified that question. And if anyone from Target management is reading this, they can also clarify it, in the comments. If it's a local issue, it can be handled locally. If it's national policy, well, customers know how to change corporate policy.

What I found most appalling were some of the blog comments. One compared the pork swipe to underage cashiers having to have alcohol swiped, claiming that is no inconvenience. Well, it certainly effing is, and I fume every time a cashier has to get somebody else to do her job. But that's a government mandate, not lazy management, and much as I'd like to boycott my government, they won't let me. And do the Target workers refuse to swipe beer as well? Of course, the same jerk accused those who objected of "racism"; I wasn't aware that Muslims were a race. And for those who claim that I'm a bigot: I don't care if you think pork is unclean. But then don't work where you have to sell pork. And don't expect me to spend my time to support your superstition. Your right to practice your religion ends at my face.

UPDATE here.

Retailers have accommodated other religious groups over the years. In the Twin Cities, these include those who don't want to sell lottery tickets or work on Saturdays, said Bernie Hesse, local organizer for United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 789. Supermarkets in particular have been good about recognizing their employees' religious observances, he said.

"If we ever get to the point of selling wine in grocery stores, I imagine some folks will be excused from doing that," Hesse said.

The difference here is one of scheduling, which has nothing much to do with the employee/customer interface.

Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers are required to make reasonable accommodations for a person's religious practices if it doesn't impose an undue hardship.

What is reasonable, and what is an undue hardship?

A customer's personal preferences is usually not a factor in deciding whether a religious practice is protected in the workplace, noted Khadija Athman, national civil rights manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington.

In most cases, a cashier should be able to call over another cashier who can scan a product and the shopper shouldn't be inconvenienced, Athman noted.

I'll be the one who decides whether I'm inconvenienced, not CAIR. And if I have to wait for somebody else to scan something, or explain to some dolt that TURKEY bacon is not pork, I've been inconvenienced.

Target's statement:

"Providing guests with consistently fast checkouts is a key, fundamental part of our business and our guest service commitment. As always, we continue to explore reasonable solutions that consider the concerns of team members while ensuring that we maintain our ability to provide the highest level of guest service."

makes it pretty clear to me that they Don't Get It.