Business

Ariens Co. fires seven Muslim employees over unscheduled prayer breaks

By Rick Barrett of the Journal Sentinel

Feb. 3, 2016 12:01 p.m.

Ariens Co. says it has fired seven Muslim employees for continuing to take unscheduled prayer breaks.

More than 50 Somali immigrant Muslims at the Brillion manufacturer recently protested the company's enforcement of a policy of two 10-minute breaks per work shift - without accommodations for unscheduled prayer time.

The 53 employees wanted the manufacturer of snowblowers and lawn mowers to continue a previous, more lenient practice of allowing Muslims to leave their work stations at different times - such as at dawn and sunset - to pray as their faith requires of them.

Ariens said it was sticking with a policy that doesn't accommodate special prayer breaks, despite having bent the rules some when there were fewer Muslim employees.

Wednesday, the company said 32 of the Muslims have chosen to stay with the company and work within the break policy, 14 had resigned, and seven were fired for continuing to take unscheduled breaks.

"We handled this with the same straightforward approach we use every day at Ariens Company. Recognizing there are language barriers and cultural differences, we allowed for extra time. We would have liked for more of the employees to stay, however, we respect their faith, we respect the work they have done for Ariens Company and we respect their decisions," the company said in a statement.

About Rick Barrett

Rick Barrett covers manufacturing, telecom and agriculture. He has received Best in Business awards from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and was co-recipient of a Barlett & Steele award for investigative business journalism.

@rbarrettJS rbarrett@journalsentinel.com 414-224-2243