BRILLION, Wis.- Monday is the first day Ariens Company is enforcing their prayer policy, but it could be bringing legal action against them.
"We hope for reasonable resolution, but if not then we will have to explore all legal options, including lawsuits," said Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) executive director, Jaylani Hussein.
CAIR in Minnesota was tipped off to the case by several Muslim employees at the Ariens Company. They say they met with members of Ariens on Friday and asked them to postpone the enforcement policy.
"When a company has been doing it and makes any changes the law says that they have to prove that there's an undue burdence," said Hussein.
According to the law by the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission; "Unless it would be an undue hardship on the employer's operation of its business, an employer must reasonably accommodate an employee's religious beliefs or practices." See the full law here.
Ariens CEO, Dan Ariens told NBC26 last Monday that more than two breaks per employee hurts the company.
"If you just use five minutes right and you take the number of people and you put that over an annual number of days working, its over a million dollars in costs," said Ariens.
Employees were given until January 25 to make a final decision whether to return to work or not.
According to an Ariens spokesperson, as of Friday, 44 of the 53 impacted Muslim employees had returned to work. Numbers for Monday's final count won't be released until later.
