Hawzah News Agency (Wisconsin, US) - An Islamic group that says it represents 19 Muslim former employees at Ariens Co., in Brillion, has filed a lawsuit against the company saying it wrongfully revoked prayer rights in the workplace.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Green Bay by the Council on American-Islamic Relations seeks the reinstatement of fired Muslim employees, back pay and other damages. It also wants Ariens to reinstate a religious accommodation policy allowing Muslim workers to take short breaks to perform their prayers during work time, in accordance with their religious practices.

"By revoking their religious accommodation that was in place, Ariens Company unlawfully forced its Somali workers to choose between their faith and their employment," Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the group’s Minnesota chapter, said in a statement.

In 2016, the manufacturer of snowblowers and lawn mowers fired seven Muslims for taking unscheduled prayer time, while 14 other employees resigned over the issue.

More than 50 Somali immigrant Muslims at Ariens protested the company's enforcement of a policy of two, 10-minute breaks per work shift — without accommodations for unscheduled prayer time.

The Muslim employees wanted Ariens to continue a previous, more lenient practice of allowing them to leave their work stations at different times — such as at dawn and sunset — to pray in accordance with their faith.

By law, an employer must provide "reasonable accommodations" for religious practices, provided they do not result in a hardship for the employer.