Luby Ismail didn't say anything for the first five minutes of her concurrent session, held Monday afternoon at SHRM's Annual Conference and Exposition in San Diego. And, that silence spoke volumes.

Without speaking and wearing a hijab atop her head, Ismail, president of Silver Spring, Md.-based Connecting Cultures, a consulting firm specializing in diversity issues, flashed a PowerPoint slide that instructed, "Turn to the person next to you and discuss what stereotypes you have about women dressed like me." After a few minutes of discussion, she motioned to the audience to volunteer their responses. Answers included "foreign," "submissive," "religious fanatic" and "jihadist."

Then, speaking in a distinct southern accent, Ismail told the audience that none of those assumptions were true. Such misconceptions represent "the greatest barriers facing Arab Americans and Muslims today."

Since the 2001 terror attacks, "A lot of anger, frustration and fear have been directed toward innocent people who had nothing to do with that heinous act," she said. "There's been a backlash not only against Arabs and Muslims, but those perceived to 'look' Arab." Incidents of intimidation, discrimination and violence have risen so dramatically in the workplace that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission even created a new category, called "Code Z," to cover discrimination charges brought by individuals perceived as Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern or South Asian.

Ismail noted there are more than 3 million Arab Americans, the vast majority of whom are U.S. citizens and Christians. Further, she reminded, the majority of Muslims in the U.S. are of African or Asian decent. "Only one in five Muslims is Arab," she said.

Having dramatically illustrated the misconceptions about Muslim and Arab Americans, Ismail spoke to the important role HR can play in ensuring their rights in the workplace. "HR must take the lead in setting the tone," she said. Among the accommodations she said employers could take are the following:

• Allow flexible work schedules. This accommodates devout Muslims who want to observe Islamic holidays or participate in communal Friday worship.

• Provide space for prayer. Ismail said that some employers have installed spigots to help Muslim workers conduct their daily prayers, which include ritual washing.

• Consider religious holidays when scheduling meetings and deadlines. She reminded the audience that because Islamic holidays follow a lunar calendar, they don't fall on the same day-or even the same month-every year.

• Sponsor diversity awareness training. She notes that often employers eschew training that focuses on religious diversity, feeling that religion "doesn't belong in the workplace." But, she said, in light of the hostility Muslim workers have experienced, it's time to re-examine that policy.

"The cost of bigotry in the workplace is high, and not only legally," Ismail said. "It can drain morale and hurt productivity." She referred attendees to the Active Voice web site (www.activevoice.net) to learn more about Muslim and Arab issues.

Mike Frost is the senior manager of content on SHRM Online and manager of the Diversity Forum.

For full coverage of SHRM's 2005 Annual Conference, see the online SHRM Conference Daily.