[zakk]

AP
Posted: 2008-02-20 11:12:59
Filed Under: Business News, Nation News
RIVERDALE, Utah (Feb. 20) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. apologized to a Muslim woman who said she was mocked because of her face veil.

"Please don't stick me up," a cashier told the shopper on Feb. 2, according to The Council on American-Islamic Relations.




Tim Boyle, Getty Images
An employee gathers shopping carts at a Wal-Mart. The retailer said it disciplined a cashier in Riverdale, Utah, for an insulting comment to a Muslim woman wearing a veil.


Wal-Mart apologized Monday in a letter signed by Rolando Rodriquez, a vice president and regional general manager. It was released Tuesday by the council's Nevada chapter.

"I can assure you that the associate in question was disciplined in accordance with our employment policies as a result of the situation," Rodriguez said without disclosing details.

Rodriguez said employees at the Riverdale store would undergo "sensitivity training," specifically in the Islamic faith and Muslim culture.

At Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., spokesman Phillip Keene confirmed the letter and declined further comment.

"We applaud Wal-Mart for taking appropriate action to resolve this incident," said Yasser Moten, executive director of the council's Nevada chapter. The group doesn't have an office in Utah.