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Latest update: 19/08/2010
- discrimination - Islamic veil - USA - Walt Disney
Muslim woman sues Disney for not allowing her to wear headscarf
A Muslim woman is suing the Disneyland theme park in California for discrimination after she was told she could not perform her high-profile job as hostess while wearing a headscarf because it did not conform to the "Disney look", a local union said.
AFP - A Muslim woman is suing Disneyland, accusing the company's California theme park of discrimination for telling her she could not serve customers if she chose to wear a headscarf.
Imane Boudal, 26, asked her employers at Disneyland's Grand Californian Hotel several months ago whether they would permit her to wear a headcovering while working as a hostess, a spokeswoman for a worker's union said.
But when no reply was forthcoming, she decided to don the headscarf anyway, timing her decision with the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Leigh Shelton, a spokesman for the UNITE HERE Local 11 union said.
"Disney told Boudlal that if she wanted to work as a hostess she had to remove her hijab because it did not comply with the 'Disney Look,'" Shelton said in a statement.
"Disney further advised Boudlal that if she refused to remove her hijab, she could either work a back-of-the-house position where any customers would not see her, or else go home."
Boudlal refused the compromise and is now bringing Disney before the US Equal Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that handles claims of workplace discrimination.
"Their offer to put me in the back is humiliating," she said in a statement. "They're saying because I'm Arab, because I'm Moroccan, because I'm Muslim, they don't want to see me in the front."
The local branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group, said it had sent a letter to Disney demanding that the firm accommodate Boudlal.
"There is no justification for Disney's refusal to allow Ms Boudlal to wear her headscarf at work," said Ameena Mirza Qazi, deputy executive director and staff attorney at the group.
"To say that her headscarf would somehow impact guests is not only insulting to her, but is deeply offensive to the thousands of Muslims who open up their pocket-books at Disney parks and resorts every year," Qazi added in a statement.
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Comments (10)
re:
Many thanks.
They're right not to let her
They're right not to let her wear the veil. I'm lebanese and i'm completely against it. I think it's as insulting to men as it is for women.
I don't care if it is wearing
I don't care if it is wearing a headscarf or wearing pants a different color than requested by employers. If she had arranged the situation before her employment, then yes, I could see her being upset. Obviously wearing the headscarf doesn't ACTUALLY mean anything to her, or she'd have been wearing it at interview time. As it is, she is just a rabblerouser trying to start some sort of nonsense.
Muslim lawsuit
This young lady worked 2 years without wearing the headscarf in a customer visible position, now she wants to wear the head gear of her faith - cool, just she needs to take another position. Her stand to wear the hijah is a choice with a consequence - change position or don't wear the hijah - simple not discrimanation
I THINK THEY SHOULD LET THIS
I THINK THEY SHOULD LET THIS WOMAN WEAR HER HIJAB. ITS PART OF HER RELIGION. ITS LIKE IF DISNEY WOULDN'T LET CHRISTIANS OR CATHOLICS WEAR A CROSS THINGS WOULD GET WORSE. STOP DISCRIMINATING AND LET THIS WOMAN BE!!!!!!!!!! DON'T BE RACIST OR LET IT BE. SHE HAS A RIGHT JUST LIKE WE ALL DO!!
headscarf
I do not think that this is a good suit Disney is known for not having anything outside of the Disney look....I do not think that this has anything to do with her being Arab or Moroccan or even Muslim but it just being Disney. If they had a problem with the others they would have not hired her to begin with this is just them. They would do the same if I wanted to wear something that took me out of the cookie cutter look that they have for everyone that works for them. I am of a non main stream belief system I do not believe that they would object because of what I belief but all have to fit the same mold with them. Finding her work in the back was not to put down her beliefs but to let her keep working and not be in the cookie cutter mold.
Disney
She has the right to sue Disney, but she'll lose. She worked for Disney for several months and apparently her religion wasn't important enough to insist that she wear the headscarf from the beginning. More important, the courst have already decided that a company has the right to set dress for their employees and as several others have already found out, it doesn't matter what you want, it's what the company wants the dress code to be. It's settled law, there is a precedant so if Disney says no headscarf then, no headscarf. Note however that DIsney even though they don't have to offered to have a headscarf that would be themed to her hostess costume and she refused. She'll find out that Disney has a very large legal staff that doesn't play games.
muslims
this is just the thin end of the muslim wedge - disney is quintessentially american and america is a country where women are treated equally - wearing a hijab or scarf shows a women feels inferior
Muslim woman sues Disney
I don't think that this is discrimination at all, since they offer her to work .
Employer policies is a management right & she is free to go & work for a muslim employer, in fact some muslims employers do not allow veils & veils are banned in certains muslim countries, like in Syria universities & more...
Really?
It's part and parcel of the look at Disney - they didn't say they would fire her, nor are they discriminating against her because she's Muslim or whatever she claims - it would be the same if any other member of staff from any other religion were out of uniform in the workplace. If I turned up at work wearing a Jewish star or similar and was asked to work in the back I would understand the reasoning behind it - Disney didn't say they would fire her, just that while she was observing Ramadan she would be better suited to another position out of the public eye as the headscarf is not part of the uniform. To say that working in the back is degrading is an insult to every behind-the-scenes worker - someone has to do the work out the back... I wonder what her co-workers who do not get the option to work out front think of her attitude, to me reminiscent of someone looking for easy money because the veil has caused so much controversy in the past. Uniform is called uniform for a reason, I'm sure it was made clear that, for example, no visible piercings were allowed out front either. If you know that something might be controversial, don't intentionally apply for that job, apply for one where your freedom to wear what you want is recognised - an office environment, for example.
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