The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed the dismissal of a protective-order case brought by a customer against an Indiana restaurant manager who had barred the customer from the establishment following an alleged anti-Muslim incident involving a teenage Muslim employee.
The incident reportedly occurred at a café in Noblesville, Indiana, where a 15-year-old Muslim employee wearing an Islamic head scarf, or hijab, was working. The customer reportedly questioned whether the café was operated by Muslims and allegedly made comments expressing fear of Muslims. The restaurant manager reportedly told the customer she was no longer welcome at the establishment.
The customer had sought a protective order against the manager. The case was dismissed following a September 1 hearing, along with an order to pay $1,800 in court fees.
After the incident, CAIR issued a statement in support of the manager’s reported action to protect the Muslim employee.
In a statement, Washington, D.C., based CAIR said:
“We welcome this ruling and again commend the restaurant manager for standing up to protect the Muslim employee from alleged targeting based on her faith and religious attire.”
The Muslim civil rights organization CAIR encouraged anyone who experiences anti-Muslim discrimination or harassment to report the incident to CAIR’s civil rights department at: https://www.cair.com/report/
CAIR’s latest civil rights report documented 8,683 anti-Muslim bias complaints in 2025 – the highest number ever recorded by the organization since it began publishing civil rights reports in 1996.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]