Tarainia McDaniel, a Muslim convert, said her local Planet Fitness in Albuquerque refused to let her wear an informal head scarf while working out. The ‘Judgment Free’ gym claims the headscarf violated their dress code policy.
A New Mexico woman is claiming Planet Fitness isn’t always ‘judgment free.’
The national budget-friendly gym chain promises members an atmosphere free of “gymtimidation.” But Tarainia McDaniel, a Muslim woman, says a gym in Albuquerque booted her out because she was wearing a head scarf.
The woman reportedly told staff at the gym that the head scarf was an essential part of her Muslim faith. In return, she was told to go find a baseball cap.
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17 comments:
The headscarf may be a danger to the wearer during use of gym equipment.
(and muslim hypocrites are no longer welcome here)
OK convert - go to one of those countries...or to hell! We don't want you here...
This is America - you knew that before you converted.
Good job Planet Fitness!
If Christians argue that they are allowed to wear crosses, and Jews can argue they are allowed to wear yarmulkes, and if Sikhs can wear a Dastar, then NO ONE should be upset that this lady is wearing her religious clothing.
I wonder how many upstanding Christians who scream persecution at every moment they are not allowed to thrust their beliefs upon everyone else will come to the defense of this woman who is only arguing the same thing.
While I don't have an issue with this, at all, PF is a horrible franchise model, and caters to weak people who don't really don't care about bettering their lives, but just want a gym membership to say "I go to the gym".
@ 7:29
Yep. This is America. Which was founded on religious freedom. The first Americans came here from England to escape religious oppression. One of the founding tenants and part of the bill of rights in the Constitution is religious freedom.
Way to go, being so "Un"-American 7:29. Nicely done.
I'm sure she agreed to the dress code when she joined.
I'm not sure it's a safety issue. I've seen Muslim women wearing scarves at the Y here.
They want to dress like a muslim, go to a muslim country and there will be no trouble at all. Good for Plant Fitness.
7:58 - as much as the current regime is taking away religious freedoms from the rest of us, your position is hypocritical and FOS! This is not oppression - they are attempting to force their religion on the rest of us - and the white house is complicit!
I'm so damn sick of religious freedom issues and political correctness! Personally, I despise Muslims for their overall lack of understanding and tolerance of other religions. I may be generalizing and there are likely Muslims out there who don't fit this mold, but this is the overwhelming sense that I get. Other religions can harp on Christians with no retaliation or consequences, but it is certainly not a two way street when the shots are fired back (pun intended). I have come to learn that things are not going to change and are likely to get worse so I just deal with it and think of myself as a superior person for not crying foul when they judge me.
That being said, I imagine that wearing a scarf is a safety and liability issue. There are a lot of moving parts in a gym to get a scarf caught on. So what happens when this Muslim hangs herself while doing her lateral pull downs? I'm sure Planet Fitness would get a hefty lawsuit for that one too. It's a lose-lose situation.
I remember when I had to remove the cross I wore around my neck when I played high school and college sports. I also had to remove the same necklace when I when through security at the airport. You don't see me suing the NCAA or the TSA now do you? No, I understood the safety over my faithful practice and understand that even without that cross around my neck I was still a Christian and God was still with me.
In addition, Planet Fitness is a private company and reserves the right to refuse service beyond reasonable accommodations. Removing a scarf is not an unreasonable accommodation. Maybe I'm a bigot, but I think that when it comes to religions freedoms, you can't get it all. This woman wants to express her beliefs while the business wants to enforce its dress code for whatever reason - does religion trump business, liability, rules, etc? That being the case, when the next Muslim attacks the US are we going to say, "hey, that's ok! They were expressing their religious beliefs." Probably not. I know it is a more extreme scenario, but where do you draw the line somewhere between flying a plane in to a building for Allah and wearing a scarf for Allah?
There needs to be a mutual respect based on whose home field you are playing on.
if its in the rules when she jioned, then she forfeited her religious rights when she entered. that simple.
"The woman reportedly told staff at the gym that the head scarf was an essential part of her Muslim faith."
--Essential? So you're saying that you aren't a Muslim without your headscarf? Religion is about faith and believing in something bigger and higher than yourself. A scarf or absence of a scarf does not change that. In fact, the Quran does not specifically require women to don a Hijab. The tradition started when women were required by Muhammad to speak behind a "partition" (Hijab) when addressing any of his wives. From there is was picked up as a social habit with the expansion of Islam aimed at secluding women from men and even became law in certain societies. I bet this "Muslim" doesn't even know that bit of a history lesson. In modern society, most consider as a form of feminine suppression. If this woman is also a female activist, I would consider her the ultimate hypocrite as I do other tradition female Muslims wearing head covering while fighting for women's rights.
"McDaniel is actually a Muslim convert."
--So she went 16 years without it? A hour or two in the gym is a drop in the bucket. Converted extremists like this really irritate me. It's like the super devout Catholics that constantly sin and think that asking for forgiveness each Sunday makes them a better person.
"The 37-year-old woman didn’t expect any problems when she joined the gym on a two-year contract."
--Planet Fitness only has one-year contracts
"McDaniel's civil lawsuit, filed under the New Mexico Human Rights Act and the Unfair Practices Act, alleges that Planet Fitness illegally based the decision to deny her access upon her religion, or alternatively upon her race — she is African-American — and that the gym had no legitimate reason to deny her entry."
--So this is basically saying that if the religious lawsuit doesn't hold up, then suing based on her race is her next step? This is what is wrong with America!! People feel like they are owed something or entitled based on their religion, ethnicity and/or race. The problem is that the system allows it to happen.
"Planet Fitness prohibits members from wearing jeans, work boots, bandanas, skull caps or revealing apparel."
--What is considered a bandana and what is considered a Hijab? What if Planet Fitness lets her in with the scarf and denies the next person with with bandana? Where do you draw the line? You don't draw a line, you enforce it across the board.
I'm not saying that Planet Fitness did or didn't handle the situation properly - we don't know the full story, but I'm going to lean in their favor because they have a business to handle and reasonable requests for safety, appearance and subordination should be accommodated. Personally, I am a member at Planet Fitness and I truly enjoy the atmosphere of the facility. It is clean and full of a variety of people which makes working out a lot more comfortable. I have been going to the gym for many years now and didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I have since I joined Planet Fitness a few months ago.
I wouldn't want to be next to her, the food they eat makes them smell very bad when they sweat!
11:37 - they also smell due to hygiene habits...although they do wash right before the use their suicide vests.....you really don't want to be next to one then!
Plenty of muslim women skip the head-covering thing. I think kooks like this are more interested in drama and controversy than religion.
Anonymous said...
If Christians argue that they are allowed to wear crosses, and Jews can argue they are allowed to wear yarmulkes, and if Sikhs can wear a Dastar, then NO ONE should be upset that this lady is wearing her religious clothing.
I wonder how many upstanding Christians who scream persecution at every moment they are not allowed to thrust their beliefs upon everyone else will come to the defense of this woman who is only arguing the same thing.
March 25, 2014 at 7:44 AM
I can't stand Liberal idiots, especially Muslim lovers. People like this make me puke.
Anonymous said...
I wouldn't want to be next to her, the food they eat makes them smell very bad when they sweat!
March 25, 2014 at 11:37 AM
You are correct. Their bodies take on the smell of what they eat. 1:01 PM is also correct about their hygiene. I really wish they would go back home and take the muslim loving liberals with them.
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