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Muslim Employee: Disneyland Banned Her Hijab
CBS 2 ^ | 8/18/2010

Posted on 08/18/2010 6:59:42 PM PDT by markomalley

A Muslim woman who works as a hostess at a Disneyland restaurant alleged Wednesday the theme park would not allow her to appear in front of customers while wearing her head scarf.

Imane Boudlal, 26, appeared outside the resort's Grand Californian Hotel after filing a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

She said 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, chose to go home but reported to work for the next two days and was told the same thing.

"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 that would allow Boudlal to cover her head in a way that fits with her hostess uniform, Brown said.

"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. We gave her a couple of different options and she chose not to take those and to go home."

Boudlal, who is a native of Morocco, has worked at the Storyteller restaurant at the hotel for 2 1/2 years but only realized she could wear her hijab to work after studying for her U.S. citizenship exam in June, Qazi said.

She asked her supervisors if she could wear the scarf and was told they would consult with the corporate office, Qazi said. Boudlal didn't hear anything for two months and was then told she could wear a head scarf, but it had to be designed by Disneyland's costume department to comply with the Disney look, Qazi said.

She was fitted for a Disney-supplied head scarf but was not given a date when the garment would be finished and was told she couldn't wear her own hijab in the interim.

Boudlal wore her own hijab to work for the first time Sunday. "After these two months and this complicated process, she decided to come forward," Qazi said. "She really wanted to be able to wear it on Ramadan."

Boudlal has the support of her union, which has been in a bitter fight for months with Disneyland over an expired contract for hotel workers. Brown accused the union of distorting the facts in Boudlal's case to distract from the key issues in the contract fight.

Leigh Shelton, a spokeswoman for the union, said Boudlal's coming forward now had nothing to do with the negotiations.

"There's absolutely no correlation," said Shelton, who's with Unite Here Local 11.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; US: California
KEYWORDS: disney; gthout; islam; muslims; norighttowork
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So it seems to me that Disney was bending over backward to accommodate her but that wasn't good enough.
1 posted on 08/18/2010 6:59:43 PM PDT by markomalley
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To: markomalley

I’ll pony up $5 for her to head back to whichever fourth-world sh*thole she came from. That goes for every last one of her co-religionists, too (even though it’s more of a political cult than a religion). See ya!


2 posted on 08/18/2010 7:02:35 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (I don't need a newspaper to know the world's been shaved by a drunken barber.)
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To: markomalley

If a company has a certain dress code, then she should either comply or find another job.


3 posted on 08/18/2010 7:03:16 PM PDT by siamesecats (God closes one door, and opens another, to protect us.)
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To: markomalley

Somebody call an WAHbulance. boo frickin’ hoo.


4 posted on 08/18/2010 7:03:49 PM PDT by BipolarBob (Even the earth is bipolar.)
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To: markomalley
"Look kids! It's Minnie Mouse, Ariel, and Cinderella!"


5 posted on 08/18/2010 7:03:57 PM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: markomalley

Let her go work in “MuslimLand”.


6 posted on 08/18/2010 7:04:06 PM PDT by Mortrey (Impeach President Soros)
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To: markomalley

>> Disneyland Banned Her Hijab <<

This is tragic! How could they be so cruel? *weeps* /s


7 posted on 08/18/2010 7:04:06 PM PDT by DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
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To: markomalley
"She really wanted to be able to wear it on Ramadan."

And I really wanted to be an astronaut.....

besides, who told this vile woman she could work without the presence of her husband, father, or brother?

Live by Sharia; die by Sharia.

8 posted on 08/18/2010 7:04:37 PM PDT by Repeat Offender (The buck, it seems, never gets to Obama; a surprise considering how many they print)
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To: markomalley

She’s wasn’t going to be happy no matter what they did. It was a set-up, and a deliberate provocation by another islamic POS.


9 posted on 08/18/2010 7:04:48 PM PDT by Ouderkirk (Democrats...the party of Slavery, Segregation, Sodomy, and Sedition)
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To: markomalley

Just another way to get rich by a judge/jury


10 posted on 08/18/2010 7:05:23 PM PDT by notaliberal (It's the Constitution---- Stupid!)
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To: markomalley

Love it or leave it


11 posted on 08/18/2010 7:07:01 PM PDT by A_Former_Democrat (NO MOS-que)
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To: markomalley
Does this mean that Disney can't hire a Muslim to wear a Goofy costume? Muslims think Dogs are dirty, right?

We are truly living in the Bizarro World. Everybody is a Victim, including Obama.

12 posted on 08/18/2010 7:10:22 PM PDT by Kickass Conservative (If Sarah Palin was President, you would have a job by now...)
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To: markomalley
Anyone who knowingly hires a Muslim is crazy.
13 posted on 08/18/2010 7:12:19 PM PDT by bwc2221
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To: markomalley
Anyone who knowingly hires a Muslim is crazy.
14 posted on 08/18/2010 7:12:18 PM PDT by bwc2221
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To: markomalley
Anyone who knowingly hires a Muslim is crazy.
15 posted on 08/18/2010 7:12:19 PM PDT by bwc2221
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To: notaliberal

She picked the wrong company. The very first thing you learn at Disney is what you can’t wear and how you have to look if you work out in the public.


16 posted on 08/18/2010 7:12:41 PM PDT by Waryone
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To: Waryone

Ever see a burka at a Hooter”s? Didn’t think so!


17 posted on 08/18/2010 7:17:34 PM PDT by WellyP
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To: markomalley
What if Porky or Pluto show up?

Muzzie goes NUTS for them.

18 posted on 08/18/2010 7:17:57 PM PDT by jaz.357 (I miss GRIDLOCK.)
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To: markomalley

Note to Muslims, there are plenty of countries on this planet where you can go and have people accomodate your religion...America is not one of them.....don’t like it....LEAVE!!!


19 posted on 08/18/2010 7:21:12 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: markomalley

20 posted on 08/18/2010 7:21:40 PM PDT by cranked
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