Forklift truck driver Mohammed Ahmed, a devout Muslim, worked in a Tesco distribution depot for eight months before quitting ‘in protest’, and is now suing the company for religious discrimination.
He claims he was forced to leave because handling beer, spirits and wine is against his strict Islamic beliefs and that he was victimised when he asked the company to give him another role.
Ahmed said he had never visited a Tesco store and was unaware they sold alcohol. He did admit, however, that he had visited Asda, Waitrose, Lidl, Sainsbury’s (and every other supermarket you can name) and noticed that they sold aclcohol.
Tesco now ensure that alcohol is mentioned when new staff are recruited.
If this guy gets away with this then it could open the floodgates. Ahmed did not have to drink or even come into contact with alcohol, he was driving a forklift truck. The story drew comments from other Muslims who say that this type of frivolous action is going too far and gives them a bad name.
What next? A vegetarian suing because he works in a butchers and insists he didn’t realise they sold meat? And why didn’t Ahmed just leave immediately once he found the job to be unsuitable? The claims culture. Easy money, and at the moment there are sufficient loonies on the loose to actually hand it out!