Michael’s Family Restaurant in Glenside was recently featured on 6ABC News for an incident involving Zaakiyaah Kamper, 16, a Muslim waitress who who was asked by a manager to remove her hijab at work.

The matter is especially sensitive given that Ramadan, the holiest month of the Islamic calendar, began on March 22 and will last until April 21.

According to Michael’s, the manager has lost her job over the incident.

On Saturday afternoon, the NAACP and community members gathered outside Michael’s to pray and stand in solidarity with Zaakiyaah and her family. The family says they are unsure if she will return to work.

Michael’s released a statement Saturday:

Michael’s Family Restaurant has been serving Glenside for over 15 years and have always taken pride in our quality of service, respect for our customers, and the diversity of our employee and customer base.

A video posted online on Friday, April 7, 2023 recorded one of our employees violating the values of our establishment. Our leadership team evaluated facts of the case and we would like our community to know that, effective Friday April 7, 2023 this employee is no longer affiliated with Michael’s Family Restaurant in Glenside.

We thank everyone who reached out to our Restaurant to record their disappointment. We share their sentiments and would like to underline that we value and respect every background that we proudly serve, including our Muslim-American customers. We are saddened that this incident disrupted their peaceful observance of the month of Ramadan. Needless to note, our beloved employee will be able to work here with her khimar should she wish to do so.

Additionally, we commit to meeting with Muslim-American community members to listen to them and also have our staff go through a sensitivity training to ensure an incident like this never repeats. We will work with CAIR-Philadelphia and other leaders to achieve these goals.”

For 6ABC’s coverage, you can click here.

Screenshot courtesy of 6ABC