Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

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20th August 2010

Controversy: Imane Boudlal at a news conference in Anaheim, California, yesterday

A Muslim woman has filed a complaint claiming that the Disneyland restaurant where she works would not allow her to wear a hijab.

Imane Boudlal, 26, claimed that when she wore the hijab to work Sunday, her supervisors told her to remove it, work where customers couldn’t see her, or go home.
Boudlal, who wore the scarf in observance of Ramadan, went home. When she showed up for work the next two days, she was told the same thing, she said.

‘Miss Boudlal has effectively understood that they’re not interested in accommodating her request either in timing or good faith,’ said Ameena Qazi, an attorney from the Council on American-Islamic Relations who is consulting with Boudlal.

Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said Disney has a policy not to discriminate.

The resort offered Boudlal a chance to work with the head covering away from customers while Disneyland tries to find a compromise.

‘Typically, somebody in an on-stage position like hers wouldn’t wear something like that, that’s not part of the costume,’ Brown said.

'We were trying to accommodate her with a backstage position that would allow her to work.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1304412/Muslim-Disneyland-employee-told-wear-hijab-work.html#ixzz0xBrZDufr

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

what's new

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

if the job is of a nature that hijab does not work then that is that.
so the question would be is there a policy in place, and whether that policy makes sense or has some real reason behind i.e. having a head covering interfere in how well a person can perform the duties etc

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she ‘cannot wear her hijab to work’

Controversy: Imane Boudlal at a news conference in Anaheim, California, yesterday

A Muslim woman has filed a complaint claiming that the Disneyland restaurant where she works would not allow her to wear a hijab.

Imane Boudlal, 26, claimed that when she wore the hijab to work Sunday, her supervisors told her to remove it, work where customers couldn’t see her, or go home.
**Boudlal, who wore the scarf in observance of Ramadan, went home. When she showed up for work the next two days, she was told the same thing, she said.
**

‘Miss Boudlal has effectively understood that they’re not interested in accommodating her request either in timing or good faith,’ said Ameena Qazi, an attorney from the Council on American-Islamic Relations who is consulting with Boudlal.

Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said Disney has a policy not to discriminate.

The resort offered Boudlal a chance to work with the head covering away from customers while Disneyland tries to find a compromise.

‘Typically, somebody in an on-stage position like hers wouldn’t wear something like that, that’s not part of the costume,’ Brown said.

'We were trying to accommodate her with a backstage position that would allow her to work.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1304412/Muslim-Disneyland-employee-told-wear-hijab-work.html#ixzz0xBrZDufr

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So she doesn’t wear it on a regular basis…im assuming she never wore it before that incident, when she was hired or during the interview process etc…

so now why make such a big fuss?

and what exactly is her job?

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

if she wears it regularly or not does not matter

only thing that matters is if there is a policy in place with some solid reasoning behind it.

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

At Sara: So if she was not wearing a black suit for example during interview, then she should never wear that at work?

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

believe it or not but there are places in Pakistan that will not hire you if you wear hijab. there are even schools like that where female students are not allowed hijab. seriously, i mean, if you are religious and want to wear hijab then find a job that's more appropriate than creating all this fuss.

ugh. attention seekers.

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

then what is so "freedomy" bout america? cuz that is what they promise.. freedom for everyone.

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

^

they were offerring her the backstage job weren't they?

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

These are the kind of people who are partially responsible for all the hatred and misunderstanding against Islam.

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

^ No.

Its the terrorists, politicians and the media.

Not an average young woman who's being denied her right to wear a hijab. Its again the media that has spiced up this news!

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

I think you are looking at it from a different angle than me. (and since u are a modni, I have to agree with you :))

When you say it's the media that has spiced up this issue, why should Muslims give media a chance in the first place?
Why insist on something that Muslims know is not acceptable in their adopted societies?

If politicians and terrorists are responsible for anti-Islamism, common Muslims should know that and try to be extra careful with not making a fuss about anything related to Islam.

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

^ Good lord. I ain't getting into that debate again. Namaaz time, I'm off.

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

there are so many jobs of this level out there don't understand why she has to apply for this particular job which calls for her being on stage.......isn't that what the employer said. If she has to wear the hijab only during the holy month of Ramadan why take up a job that might not suit her.

there's never been any commotion with a woman wearing a hijab but on stage it's understandable for her not to wear and like sara said she doesn't even wear it all the time so why make such a big deal out this

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

I went to IKEA (Germany) few weeks ago. IKEA is place where mostly locals (blue blooded Germans) buy their product. I saw two girls sitting at the Cashier position and wearing hijab. Both were in between 20-25.

If you have freedom to perform your normality regarding your culture and religion then it can be everywhere and not only in your homes.

Although one thing is rightly said that she is making fuss of it, because if she is so sacred then she should have it most of the times she comes out of her house.

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

I think the lady in question is just trying to cash it out but I may be wrong wAllah-o-alam. We are not talking about a normal work scenerio over here, we are talking about Disney world, where most of the workers have to wear costumes and appear like certain characters. Which disney character have you seen wearing hijaab. It's like in a movie you have to dress like a certain character, so you can't sue the studios if they don't allow you to wear hijaab for a mob/cowgirl/watever character because that's the demand of the character.

They are offering her a back stage position aren't they then wat's the fuss abt?

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Re: Muslim Disneyland employee told she 'cannot wear her hijab to work'

If a restaurant does not want its employees to wear any head scarfs or bandanas or caps (all fall in the same category practically speaking).. then it has every right to fire an employee who starts to wear one of these things and refuses to remove it while working.