Components

Credit Union CI

Credit Union says no to customer’s hijab: Public safety or discrimination?

Chia-An Chao, Indiana State University, Aruna Chandra, Indiana State University, Dale Varble, Indiana State University, Joyce A. Young, Indiana State University
January 19, 2021
SKU:
BUS-007309
Region: 
North America
Topic: 
Ethics & Social Justice, Human Resources & Organizational Behavior
Length: 
3 pages
Keywords: 
discrimination, social media, business policy, Human Resource Management
Copyrighted by: 
Society for Case Research
Student Price: 
$4.00 (€3.76)
Average rating: 
0

This critical incident describes an alleged discrimination incident involving Sound Credit Union (SCU), a 115,000 member, not-for-profit financial institution in Seattle, Washington. Jamela Mohamed, a black Muslim woman and SCU customer, reported she was denied service because she wore a hood in accordance with her faith. SCU’s customer dress code policy required members to remove their hats, hoods, and sunglasses to protect public safety. Mohamed recorded the incident and subsequently posted the video on Facebook (Mohamed, 2017). The video attracted much negative publicity. SCU released an initial response on Facebook stating it was investigating the incident, but did not apologize. The backlash against SCU continued. Students are asked to decide what communication strategies SCU might use to handle the immediate situation, and what changes, if any, should be made to the dress code policy to ensure its alignment with SCU’s mission while meeting customer goals. 

Learning Outcomes: 
  1. Evaluate possible response strategies a business could adopt during a social media communication crisis
  2. Assess the alignment of an organization’s policy with its mission
  3. Analyze criteria used to determine whether a business should modify its business policy
  4. Compose an accurate, brief, and clear business policy with implementation guidance