Excerpt:
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. on Wednesday warned that "this is going to sound like a joke," and then posed an unusual question about four hypothetical job applicants. If a Sikh man wears a turban, a Hasidic man wears a hat, a Muslim woman wears a hijab and a Catholic nun wears a habit, must employers recognize that their garb connotes faith — or should they assume, Justice Alito asked, that it is "a fashion statement"?
The question arose in a vigorous Supreme Court argument that explored religious stereotypes, employment discrimination and the symbolism of the Muslim head scarf known as the hijab, all arising from a 2008 encounter at Woodland Hills Mall in Tulsa, Okla.
Samantha Elauf, then 17, sought a job in a children's clothing store owned by Abercrombie & Fitch. She wore a black head scarf but did not say why.