In Troy, a 25-year-old employee at an aerospace testing company who is Muslim says he was disparaged and mocked with pork products after his supervisor found out he was Muslim.

In Taylor, a Muslim worker said he was belittled and then fired after his employer found out about his faith and asked him why he didn't celebrate Christmas.

And in Hazel Park, several Muslim employees at an auto battery plant said they had to sit through racist training for active shooter incidents that depicted Muslims and Arabs in demeaning ways, associating their faith with terrorism.

The three recent allegations of racism are examples of what civil rights advocates say is a growing number of workplace discrimination incidents in metro Detroit faced by Muslims. The Michigan office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it has received one and a half times more complaints about workplace discrimination in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the first quarter of 2018. Overall complaints about anti-Muslim bias in Michigan has risen 50% during that time period, the advocacy group said.

They said the problem is being exacerbated by a political climate where anti-Muslim sentiment is more accepted among politicians.

On Tuesday, three employees spoke about their allegations of facing anti-Muslim bias at the LG Electronics auto battery plant in Hazel Park. They held a news conference in Farmington Hills organized by the Michigan chapter of CAIR.

In complaints filed Tuesday with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), five workers allege that the company held active shooter and terrorist attack training on April 11 that depicted Muslims and Islamic prayers as supporting terrorism. A spokesperson for LG told the Free Press on Tuesday that the training was a mistake for which they apologize.

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"The entirety of the presentation was racially and religiously offensive ... because it was filled with disparaging, prejudicial, Islamophobic, xenophobic, racial and religious tropes," said an EEOC complaint filed by Amy Doukoure, an attorney with the Michigan chapter CAIR on behalf of LG employee Hany Zaki, 39, of Roseville, an immigrant from Egypt who is Muslim.

The presentation "showed pictures of Muslims wearing traditional Muslim clothing under the heading of 'terrorism,' " said the complaint. It also "showed images of Arabic script with English transliterations of the words 'Allah Akbar' and 'La Illaha IllahAllah' without giving the meaning of these words, while stating that terrorists will say both of those Arabic phrases while committing an attack."

"Allah Akbar" means "God is great" and "La Illaha IllahAllah" means "There is no god, but God," which are two commonly used phrases by Muslims for prayers.

Zaki said that after the presentation he felt concerned that other employees would have negative views of him.

"I felt after this, I have to talk to everyone in the room and say, 'Hey, we're not terrorists,' " Zaki said at the news conference. "We are not like" the people depicted in the presentation.

Phrases like "Allah Akbar" are "part of our religion," he said.

Another LG employee, Maged Mousa, 40, of Dearborn Heights, a Muslim immigrant from Egypt, said that after the training, "I felt embarrassed, I felt, how can I walk in the place after that because I (would be) looked at as being a terrorist. ... That's my prayer, I do it every day."

Another employee, Juma Sayeed, 35, of Detroit said he suffered discrimination at LG because he is African American and Muslim. Black workers at the plant are segregated into certain areas, said Doukoure.

The Muslim employees also said they've received smaller pay raises compared with other employees.

In response, Taryn Brucia, a spokesperson for LG Electronics USA, said in a statement:

"It has come to our attention that some content in recent safety training sessions in Hazel Park was not appropriate or at all reflective of LG’s commitment to providing a work environment where all employees feel respected. This was a mistake for which we sincerely apologize. We appreciate our employees bringing this to our attention, and we share their concerns. These training materials were developed overseas without an understanding of cultural sensitivities and policies, and are being updated immediately to reflect consistency with our company policy."

Brucia added that "LG policies strictly prohibit any religious or racial discrimination and forbid creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment."

Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said that there has been an upswing in bias incidents against Muslims because of the tone coming from President Donald Trump.

"Open intolerance has become normal," Walid said. There is a "growing climate in America of people espousing openly racist attitudes as well as xenophobia and Islamophobia. And this starts at the Oval Office and permeates its way down even into corporate America."

In the Troy case, Mubarak Ali Salam of Hamtramck said in an EEOC complaint filed this month that he faced anti-Muslim and anti-black bigotry while working at X-Ray Industries (XRI) in Troy.

X-Ray Industries did not return a phone call or email seeking comment.

"Salam began working for XRI on October 22, 2018 and was almost immediately subjected to discrimination, harassment and disparate treatment based both on his race and religion," reads the complaint.

A supervisor told Salam shortly after he was hired "that he had a very unusual name and asked him what kind of name it was. Salam responded that it was a Muslim name. From that day forward, and without pause, Salam has been subjected to harassment and anti-Muslim bigotry in the workplace from coworkers and upper level management."

Salam said he was taunted several times by supervisors or co-workers with bacon and pork rinds, according to the complaint. Observant Muslims don't eat pork products.

In one incident, a supervisor "came up behind Salam while Salam was working in an enclosed area ... carrying a bag of pork rinds and eating from them while on the job."

The supervisor "then proceeded to shake the pork rinds in the direction of Salam and

state to him, 'I’ve got some pork rinds for you,' and then began laughing at Salam," said the complaint.

"This incident of harassment by his direct supervisor was so upsetting that Salam left work for the day," said the complaint.

In another case, bacon was placed in a sandwich he had ordered along with other co-workers, alleged the EEOC complaint. Salam said he was also recently passed over for a job promotion despite being more qualified.

"It's a huge problem," said Doukoure of bias against Muslims in workplaces.

Doukoure said she's also receiving complaints from Muslim women at work who wear the hijab and are facing discriminatory treatment. Other Muslims are being denied break time to pray.

She said that after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, anti-Muslim incidents spiked, but then decreased. Now, they're increasing again, she said.

"The overall political climate is really, really anti-Muslim," Doukoure said. "Coming from all facets of media, social media, the White House. It's not coincidence that people are emboldened to behave in this illegal and inappropriate way because people in the top levels of political power are doing it."

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com, 313-223-4792, Twitter @nwarikoo