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
Imane Boudlal, 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’. 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.
Could this be the solution?
Said Boudlal, who claimed in a video on this site that Disney had suggested another form of headcovering:
Their offer to put me in the back is humiliating. 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 said it had sent a letter to Disney demanding that the firm accommodate Boudlal.
Ameena Mirza Qazi, deputy executive director and staff attorney at the group, said:
There is no justification for Disney’s refusal to allow Ms Boudlal to wear her headscarf at work.
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.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
August 21st, 2010 at 9:33 am
If the company has uniform rules then everyone should be obliged to abide by them, no matter what their religion.
August 21st, 2010 at 9:51 am
CAIR, an unindited terrorist organization… (Read “Muslim Mafia”). What judge would allow them anywhere near a court? The woman saw an opportunity to get big bucks and so suddenly decided to wear a headscarf having previously (quite happily?) NOT wearing one. Right, she was on her way to Damascus and suddenly had (the “loadsa dosh”) epiphany. Bring out the gold plated victim card…
August 21st, 2010 at 10:41 am
People in the US are well aware of Disney’s rules regarding their “look.” It even goes as far as visitors to the park: I know of 3 cases personally where guests were required to tone down their radical dress in order to gain admittance. One punk rocker was asked to remove a rosary they were wearing.
” 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.”
Absurd strawman; ridiculous claim of victimization.
Like the Scientologists and other US religions with extreme adherence to fringe practices, it appears CAIR is planning to bully their way through the courts in order to force US acceptance.
August 21st, 2010 at 10:56 am
You cruel cynics you!
She only wants to wear a symbol of totalitarian oppression that subjugates women in front of the nice kiddies who are visiting disneyland.
She deserves millions of dollars to compensate for the degradation she experiences.
From Islam – not Disney.
August 21st, 2010 at 11:51 am
Perhaps they could have had her dress as Caspar the friendly Ghost?
Oh wait, that’s not a Disney character.
August 21st, 2010 at 12:17 pm
I only want to be the exception to the rules for everyone else.
August 21st, 2010 at 1:05 pm
I await the first of these cases from the Hooters Organisation.
August 21st, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Yeah, it’s total straw man crap indeed, I had a christmas job with the Disney Store a few years back, and their dress code was totalitarian. I was ordered to go home and shave a 5 o’clock shadow one day despite shaving that morning.
August 21st, 2010 at 1:27 pm
From a prepared statement by teh Disney organization:
“Ms. Boudlal has worked for the company for more than two years and recently made the request to wear a hijab, and we have been working directly with her on accommodations. In the interim, we offered reasonable accommodations to allow her to work during her scheduled shifts, which she declined.â€
Disney is currently in difficult negotiations with the service employees union, so this is no coincidence. The Orange County Register has more of the story:
http://ocresort.ocregister.com.....ion/53409/
Personally I think she may have a case; the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to make reasonable accommodation for those with handicaps.
August 21st, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Just for a moment there, I read her name as Inane.
August 21st, 2010 at 3:36 pm
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 yeartrue.August 21st, 2010 at 3:38 pm
I would beware terms like unindicted co-conspirator as it means the government (in this case the FBI) are making an accusation of conspiracy but aren’t even going to try to prove the case in court. It smears someone or some organization without giving them a chance to defend themselves or even necessarily see the evidence. As for a court forbidding them to go near because of the accusation, what court can forbid them to aid in the same fashion as a never accused organization since they have never been found guilty or even indicted?
Given Disney’s reputation for strict dress codes, I suspect they will legally win. Do they also forbid men from wearing yarmulkes? I also suspect this is part of a larger union/employer dispute and part of it may be that the company seems never to have answered her original request.
August 22nd, 2010 at 7:38 am
Injury Lawyers 4 U
Crash 4 Cash
CAIR Mohammedan puppet seeks day in court.
They wouldn’t let me wear a suicide vest to work, I’m outraged.
August 22nd, 2010 at 9:21 am
So she has already been at work without the rag over her face, Am I right in thinking that, women in the majority of backward muslim countries are often stonned to death for less? I would have thought she should have keep the fact quiet that she has been working at disney! let alone without a rag over her face! Where are all the fuzzy-faced morons when you need them? I am still finding it hard the fact we have to appease these retarded muslims, is it not ironic that they shout oppression every time they are told to remove the rag. I had an X-ray recently, the women taking it had a rag over her face. I cannot comprehend why an educated person would want to dress like a clown and I am frightened to have an operation done by anyone wearing such garments. It is a pity the christian clowns don’t also wear rags over their faces as it is like a warning sign which says “their is no point in engaging in any conversation with this person who has an IQ lower than a can of dog food”.
August 22nd, 2010 at 10:56 am
@Erp… “Unindited” does not mean that they are not going to be. CAIR is dangerous and hostile to the Western way of life. WAKE UP!
August 22nd, 2010 at 6:16 pm
“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.” – Bullshit. They’re saying you must dress according to their code. You took their job, lady. You knew the rules. Play by them.
I am so sick of ‘victims.’
August 23rd, 2010 at 2:15 am
I knew someone who wanted to work for them a decade or so ago. As I heard it, they had incredibly strict dress codes that covered what earrings a woman could wear. According to this link – http://www.wisegeek.com/what-i.....embers.htm – they still do. And men can’t have long hair (presumably an issue for a couple of religions).
For them to say no headscarf really has nothing to do with why she wants to wear it, or what it says about her culture or religion.
August 23rd, 2010 at 7:14 am
From what I understand, the women had been working there for two years without a problem and without a headscarf in the front of the restaurant. The demands and lawsuit only come about after she had become a US citizen. She’s just an agitator with a political agenda.
August 23rd, 2010 at 9:15 am
Every time there is a ‘Burka Debate’ in Europe, these people come back with “what’s the fuss, it is only a minority of women who wear them” (although the numbers are growing).
So I feel obliged to comment, how can something be a religious compulsion when so few do it?
All jobs have accepted clothing regulations – whether it is the white lab coat or the miner’s protective overalls. NO EXCEPTIONS!
Either everyone gets to wear whatever they want, or nobody does.
Either everyone gets to wear a face mask in banks, or nobody does.
August 25th, 2010 at 2:11 am
just fire the uppity bitch and send her back to her desert shit-hole.
September 12th, 2010 at 8:10 am
Uniform requirement she’ll lose. If not the court awarding her will open up the flood gates of frivolous lawsuits.