Air Stewardess Loses Job For Traditional Islamic Robe

By Staff

Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 11:24

Lisa Ashton, a British air stewardess was recently sacked. True, with the clouds of recession still on, and so much of job sacking, this may perhaps not come as a news. But this has got nothing to do with the present recession.

This British air stewardess was sacked for refusing to fly to Saudi Arabia after she was ordered to wear a traditional Islamic robe and walk behind male colleagues. Now does it sound like a news? Yes, Lisa Ashton, who worked for BMI, was told that she was expected to wear in public in Saudi Arabia the abaya, a long black robe that leaves only the face uncovered. She was also told that she should walk behind male colleagues irrespective of their rank, in order to conform with the social codes of the conservative country, The Telegraph reports.

Ashton was instructed to consider the abaya as part of her uniform when flying to Saudi Arabia, but she informed her managers that she considered the requirement discriminatory, and was worried that Saudi Arabia was not safe to travel to because of the danger of terrorist attacks. "It's not the law that you have to walk behind men in Saudi Arabia, or that you have to wear an abaya, and I'm not going to be treated as a second-class citizen," Ashton said. "It's outrageous. I'm a proud Englishwoman and I don't want these restrictions placed on myself," she added.

Ashton, 37, had been working for the airline for nine years when they began their service to Saudi Arabia in 2005.

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