Friday 20 August 2010

"Woman sues Disney for trying to hide hijab"

Imane Boudial [at left] says:
"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".
Well, no, they're not saying that.  She was employed, after all, by Disney.  She asked them "several months ago" if she could wear the hijab and only decided to wear it, in defiance, when Ramadan started recently.  So clearly it had nothing to do with her Moroccan-ness, her Arab-ness or her Muslim-ness.  It had simply to do with a dress code, which is clearly stated by Disney.  Note that they even bent over backwards; they did not say she could not wear the hijab, just that if she did, she would need to work in a back-of-house area.  This is combination Muslim victimhood with doing one's own small part to promote the spread Islam and Islamic practices....
[Postscript: update story here]


Woman sues Disney for trying to hide hijab

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 Boudlal, 26, asked her employers at Disneyland's Grand Californian Hotel several months ago whether they would permit her to wear a head covering while working as a hostess, a spokeswoman for a workers' 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.
"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. "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, the deputy executive director of the group and a staff lawyer.
"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."