Muslim flight attendant sues airline over alcohol rule

A Muslim flight attendant has filed a lawsuit against her former employer ExpressJet for improperly suspending her after she declined to serve alcohol on religious grounds.

The legal action was submitted last week on Charee Stanley's behalf by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.

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According to The Guardian, court documents indicate that, in 2013, she converted to Islam and got her job with the airline.

For about a year-and-a-half, she claims to have performed all her duties until she realized one day that her religion not only prohibited her from consuming alcohol herself but also serving it to others.

So she and her supervisor came up with a compromise where a fellow flight attendant would give passengers alcohol on her behalf.

However, a co-worker reportedly complained about this and other religious behaviours, and, in August 2015, ExpressJet agreed, threatening Stanley's job security if she did not serve alcohol.

Later that month, she was released on leave without pay.

According to CAIR, the lawsuit blames the airline for failing to provide Stanley "a reasonable religious accommodation and wrongfully suspending her from her employment."

She is hoping to be awarded 'back pay and other damages.' ExpressJet declined to comment on the case but has expressed its support of diversity.