Disney employee says she was prohibited wearing head scarf to work

Raven-Phile said:
I'm offended by this topic's overuse of italics. Anyone else seeing this? It's not happening on any other thread.

^It happened recently on one other thread, maybe a TR...

Think somehow the italics gets locked via some html mishap...let's see how my post does since I embedded italics... ;)

I definitely see this both ways.....but in the end, this is FL, and we're a "right-to-work" state (is that phrase intentionally ironic, or did it just turn out that way)? :)

edited to clean up page-break referencing... :)

This link in layman's terms is decent in explaining it (Esp. under the dress and grooming section).

If an employer has made provisions for others based on their religion, they could be liable, however, under most circumstances, they are only required to "reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs and practices" and it looks like they did so here. They said she could wear it, but she wouldn't be hosting.

Methinks she didn't read the whole section on this when studying about religious freedoms and laws or at the very least misunderstood.

This woman is purposefully stirring a pot that needed no stirring. Head scarfs do not fit into the theming of this restaurant. It is "critter" themed. Chip and Dale, Bears, etc. Woodland creature type stuff. She knows this. She has worked there for years.

Islam has its own share of media whores (see New York Mosque that most Muslim's do not want). I cringe every time somebody like this brings undo and unjustified attention. She could have sacrificed for her religion and taken a temporary back stage job. But this was not about her religion. This was about gathering attention and being a prick.

I don't know about you, but for me, the part that makes Disney better than an average amusement park is their strict adherence to theming. I would feel the same if Epcot disallowed a Tennessean employee to wear a critter hat in Morocco on Alamo Day. I don't want to go to Disney and see cast members out of character. Otherwise I would go to Six Flags.

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.

So, they offered to make her a Disney approved headscarf (apparently at no cost to her, with the company providing it), and then she was told that she could work in an area where customers wouldn't see her wear her own hijab, I presume until they finished making one for her, and she has refused.

I wouldn't have a problem with her wearing it at all, but as a corporation, I see Disney's point. I think they went beyond trying to accomodate her, and according to that quote, seems they just hadn't gotten finished with the headscarf they were creating for her.

When you decide to work for a company, you give up certain rights to comply with their standards and policy. She was the one that decided to give up those rights, and therefore Disney hasn't done anything wrong, and actually has gone beyond what they're required to do, IMO.

Aamilj said:
I don't know about you, but for me, the part that makes Disney better than an average amusement park is their strict adherence to theming. I would feel the same if Epcot disallowed a Tennessean employee to wear a critter hat in Morocco on Alamo Day. I don't want to go to Disney and see cast members out of character. Otherwise I would go to Six Flags.

I feel like I just *knew* you'd prove your mettle. Thanks for justifying my ummmm, faith. Those last two sentences were priceless... :)

Let's try an experiment.

Nope, that didn't work. Never mind.

Holy mackerel. It did work! The rest of the thread went back to non-italicized.

It's the same thing if the lady who played Snow White wanted to wear a headscarf. It wouldn't work to Disney's standards.

Kudos to Disney for trying to accommodate her. Many employers wouldn't be so understanding.

Despite what some may tell you, being Texan is not a religion. :)

I suppose if Disney was making her a matching scarf that wouldn't clash, then yeah, she probably doesn't have a case and she's media whoring.

Even if they weren't, and she did have a case, she's still media whoring.

She'd been working there for 2 years, and knew the rules as far as uniforms/costumes go. Anyone care to bet on how she'll fare against Disney's famous lawyers? I had some sympathy for her until I read about the PR stunt.