Jaylani Hussein, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told USA Today on Tuesday that Muslim employees pray at different times during the day, depending on the season.
Khader Ducal echoed Hussein observing that Muslims have strict religious rules.
"Prayer is the first priority to every Muslim. We can sustain without a job, but we cannot sustain without prayer," said Ducal, who is assisting the Somali workers in filing for unemployment.
The dismissed workers cited plant policy changes as the reason the incident occurred. In early December, Cargill plant management canceled time off during shifts for prayer, according to the former employees.
I Support #Cargill 100% in their firing of #Somali workers! @Cargill is a business NOT A MOSQUE! I go to work 2 work, pray on my own time!
— Lizzard le blizzard (@PopsClazy) January 2, 2016
Cargill representatives responded to the accusations in a story reported by KUSA-TV, stating that they did not change the company's policy on prayer at work.
"In the Fort Morgan plant, a reflection area for use by all employees to pray was established in April 2009 and is available during work shifts based on our ability to adequately staff a given work area," Cargill said.
The Cargill statement clarified the company's position on management discretion regarding religion in the workplace. A boss decides whether the workload justifies an employee's ability to take time off from the shift to pray.
"While reasonable efforts are made to accommodate employees, accommodation is not guaranteed every day and is dependent on a number of factors that can, and do, change from day to day," the company said.
Cargill claimed that the workers were fired because they violated company policy, including not reporting to work three days in a row without an explanation.
"Multiple attempts were made to discuss the situation with local Somali employees without a successful resolution, including a Tuesday meeting at the plant management's request," according to the Cargill statement.
.@Shooters_Wife @Babbsgirl2 What are Somali workers doing at a northeastern Colorado meatpacking plant?!
— insightz (@insightz) January 2, 2016
Earlier this week, an attempt to communicate with workers was made by union representatives but no resolution was reached, and the company fired the 190 employees.
According to federal law, employers are obliged to provide their workers with a stable place for religious practice, as long as the practice of that religion does not cause what is defined as ‘undue hardship' for the company. Lawyers point out that the rule's vague wording increases the number of disciplinary actions and, subsequently, the number of court cases.
