Eyewitness News (WABC): Held & Hines’ Case Posted on Eyewitness News Eyewitness News NEW YORK (WABC) — A Muslim family is suing the Empire State Building management company after they say they were booted from the landmark for praying. The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan District Court on Tuesday. The couple says they and their two young children were escorted from the observation deck last July after silently kneeling for evening prayers. The family claims their civil rights were violated. The […]
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/20/muslims-sue-after-guards-interrupt-prayers-empire-/
Phil Hines, partner at Held & Hines Quoted Regarding Suit Involving Religious Freedoms at Empire State Building https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/muslim-family-escorted-empire-state-building-pray-lawsuit-article-1.1726571
Phillip Hines, a lawyer for the the family, told CNN, “an unwritten rule or policy was being enforced by security when they removed these people.”
“They weren’t bothering anybody, they were out of the way, and for them to be thrown out of the building is just an ignorant and shameful exercise in discriminatory conduct,” Hines said.
The Tirmizis’ lawyer, Phil Hines, said the family outing became an experience of intolerance.
“To most, the Empire State Building is one of the great landmarks of this city, but for my client and his family, it is a building of ignorance and injustice,” Hines said.
“A family trip to enjoy the cityscape was cut short after security officials threw them out of the building for exercising their religious beliefs.”
