(CNN) An employee of a Chicken Express restaurant in Texas says she faced religious discrimination when a manager sent her home for refusing to take off her hijab, a headscarf worn by many Muslim women.

Stefanae Coleman, 22, arrived at work on Monday wearing a hijab for the first time. As a recent convert to Islam, she said she was excited to don the religious covering and hopeful that her coworkers would be supportive.

But the single mom was left feeling "disrespected, baffled and highly upset" when her manager, citing dress code requirements, told her she could not wear the hijab at work.

"Once I clocked in, the manager said 'Take off anything that doesn't involve Chicken Express,' which I knew he was talking about my hijab," Coleman told CNN.

"So I didn't react, I just went to the back and took off my jacket and my purse. Five minutes later, he called me into the office telling me that I have to take it off because it's not a part of the work uniform," she said.

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