Casual hate speech

OP wears a hijabi so why wouldn't they know?

Just because some people kill in the name of islam does not make the whole religion bad. Terrorism has no religion. I myself would feel extremely offended if someone told me that because it's just not fair at all.

Next thing he'll ask her to apologise for ISIS even though 99% of their victims are Muslims.

The anti Muslim people almost exclusively get their news from fox and rush. Facts aren't something they've had any experience with.

Hmm, maybe that's why OP should tell them. I'm not saying that one person will completely change their opinion, but they'll see that not all Muslims are bad. c:

It's a nice belief that sometimes people can change their messed up way of thinking due to exposure to the actual truth... But well I've never seen it. My fathers family are all racist and make offhand comments all the time and even if you sit and explain things logically with evidence or even direct people you know it doesn't get through. Some people are set in their offensive way of thinking and personally I think it's better to just disregard them entirely as their opinions do not matter an ounce if they refuse to use their brain before forming them.

What's funny is the same people who condemn stereotyping Muslims stereotype conservatives, gun owners, and Christians all the time.

@45: Nice one, you just stereotyped people who condemn stereotyping muslims.

@53 True I did. Difference is I'm not the one that's out condemning stereotyping they are. For them to turn right around and do it makes them laughable hypocrites.

That would probably just support their case

It's not racist. It's discriminatory. People can be Muslim no matter what race they are.

Thank you Mr. Pedant

Bigoted, racist, xenophobic, call it whatever you want, that kind of hatred is illegal and she should sue that idiot.

It's not illegal, however it's usually not allowed in the workplace.

In the U.S. it's illegal to discriminate against the protected classes as an employer. It's not as a fellow employee, but it generally is against the code of conduct/employee handbook/etc. dunno how Canada differs.

No matter whether such co-workers are bigots or not, they still have the right of expression. If they wish to have a bad opinion about Muslims it’s legal and it’s also legal to right about this opinion. Getting him or her fired is way over the top and much more damaging than bigotry.

42: Well, freedom of expression only protects you against punishment from the state and does so for good reason. An employer should still be allowed to fire others if they openly mention their beliefs, e.g. by publicly writing them down, should said beliefs strongly conflict with the opinions of the employer while not being protected by law. As in, it's illegal for e.g. a Christian person to fire someone just because they're Muslim, because faith is protected by law. On the other hand, a Jewish person should be allowed to fire an employee if said employee spends all day wearing a genuine SS-uniform, greets everyone he meets with "Heil Hitler" and constantly complains about all the "sheep" that don't realise that the Holocaust was a hoax. Similarly, an open hate for Muslims should not be something that gets protected from non-governmental consequences.

@44: Of course freedom of expression is just a protection against the government and not against other people. I also agree with you about your example regarding a person wearing a genuine SS uniform, which would be awful. However, OP only talked about a co-worker (or more co-workers; she also used the words "them" and "they") expressing a bad opinion about Muslims, but didn't say anything about other provocations. In my humble opinion this shouldn't be enough to fire anyone (as it has been suggested by #8) and I'm not talking about the legal aspects but simply about my perception of fairness. I wouldn't fire such an employee.

How exactly is that racist

Yeah racism sucks. And so does religious intolerance, I guess. But most people here poke fun at Christianity and think that's just dandy and fun. This lady's coworker was being a berk. But she wasn't being racists. Hating on somebody's chosen religion isn't racist. She wasn't born the colour Muslim, she chooses to follow that faith. Racism is so bad, because it is hate based on how somebody came into this world, they didn't choose their skin. Hating religion is just a theme in society now, with science and technology getting more popular, and I'm getting really sick of seeing "Oh hey I don't like the Muslim religion' getting turned into 'YOU RACIST'. Totally. Separate. Issues.