Kansas Chipotle manager is fired after he 'ripped off 19 year-old Muslim co-worker's hijab because he wanted to see her hair'

The manager of a Chipotle in Kansas was fired and could face criminal chargers after he allegedly pulled off a Muslim teen's hijab to see her hair. 

Areej Saifan, 19, said she was working at the Chipotle in Lenexa, Kansas, on August 9, when her assistant manager kept telling her to remove her hijab. 

'He kept asking to see my hair,' she said. 'I kept telling him to stop and no, and I just tried to ignore it. So I went back to work, and he just came behind me, pulled my scarf, and I really don't have any idea what like would make someone do, like do that.' 

Chipotle fired the man and said in a statement, 'we have a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind and we terminated the employee in question nearly two weeks ago following a thorough investigation.' 

Areej Saifan, left got the help of the he Council on American-Islamic Relations in Kansas to help report the incident. Moussa Elbayoumy, right, of the CAIR Kansas said he helped the teen submit the complain to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Saifan detailed her experience to the EEOC. She has since resigned from the Chipotle

When the incident occurred, a fellow co-worker stood up for her and told the assistant manager to 'never do that again,' KSN reported. 

Following the incident, Saifan reported the man to the store manager and told her parents about the incident. She also filed a report to Lenexa Police, who are currently investigating the matter. 

Saifan has since resigned from her job at Chipotle. 

She also got help from the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Kansas to get a lawyer. 

'We need to make sure that this never happens again to anybody in her workplace,' said Moussa Elbayoumy with CAIR Kansas. 

'We will take whatever steps necessary. The first step was getting the legal representation to represent her, and we already filed the charge in the EEOC, the Equal Opportunity employment commission and we'll wait for the investigation.' 

Chipotle fired the assistant manager at their franchise in Lenexa, Kansas, pictured

Saifan said she needed to report the incident to highlight the manager's alleged offensive actions and let others know that this was not something they should do. 

'I don't want this to happen to me or especially anyone else. Of course, you know, it's not only about being respectful to Muslim coworkers, to any religion, anybody, everyone has different religious beliefs and choices. And you have to respect that you have to accommodate to that 

Chipotle also encouraged all of its employees to report any instances of discrimination to the company to resolve these kinds of incidents. 

CAIR Kansas said it hoped Chipotle will implement more cultural sensitivity training and implement other policies to protect its employees.