Civil rights group: Airline forced girl, 12, to remove Hijab

A Muslim civil rights advocacy group is demanding changes at Air Canada after a 12-year-old says she was forced to remove her hijab while boarding at San Francisco International. The San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Friday that federal and state laws were violated when an Air Canada gate agent demanded the girl remove her religious head covering. She requested a private area so she could remove her headscarf in private and in the exclusive presence of female Air Canada agents, but the council says airline employees refused. The advocacy group is seeking the airline order cultural competency training for employees and policy changes prohibiting discrimination. It wants monetary damages for emotional distress, a formal written apology, and reprimand of employees involved. <br/>