Muslims file suit against Whirlpool

LAVERGNE, Tenn. -- Sixteen Muslims have filed a religious discrimination lawsuit claiming managers at a Whirlpool plant yanked scarves off women's heads and followed workers into restrooms to make sure they weren't praying.

The current and former workers at the factory sued Whirlpool seeking $310,000 in damages, along with a court order forcing the company to "reasonably accommodate" the workers' religious practices, as required by law.

Hodan Hassan of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington said workers at the refrigerator and air conditioner plant outside Nashville had been complaining about discrimination for five years.