if the customer had taken WH Smith's advice and not attempted to buy cigarettes, presuming the assistant to be Muslim, would the store have a case for racial discrimination?

Well, yes, that's kind of the point, isn't it: any attempt on the cigarette-buying customer's part to avoid an assistant they supposed to be a Muslim would probably be classed as racial discrimination, unless they just sort of hung around and waited to join the queue at the moment when the funny foreign-looking assistant was obviously busy, and so got away with just looking odd rather than looking like a racist.

I must admit I find all this anti-discrimination legislation a bit disquieting

It's the implications about what people think other people "should" do and where people think rights/responsibilities lie that frequently give me culture-shock; this is just today's example. Someone on my flist said recently that "should" was the most dangerous word in the English language; I'm not sure I'd go that far, but it's certainly one of the most insidious.

wierd

WEIRD! Please! I before E, except in weird, which is weird. Sorry, pet hate.