Disneyland allows park worker to wear religious scarf at work [Updated]

Disneyland has agreed to allow a company intern to wear her religious headscarf at work, according to a Muslim rights group that intervened after the woman was told she would have to work in the stockroom.

The Chicago woman was hired as a vacation planner after a phone interview. When she arrived in California for her internship orientation, she was asked by Disney representatives why she had not mentioned her hijab, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The woman was told she would have to take a position with less guest interaction, working in the stockroom until a "customized uniform" could be made, according to the group.

She was told that making the customized uniform would take about five months, approximately the length of her entire internship, according to CAIR.

The group intervened, and after a week Disney agreed to accommodate the woman in her original position as a vacation planner, it said.

Disney representatives could not be reached for comment Monday morning. CAIR is urging the company to implement a corporate-wide policy that protects its employees' right to wear religious attire.

[Updated at 11:13 a.m.: Suzi Brown, a spokeswoman for Disneyland Resort, said the employee would be allowed to wear a fitted blue head scarf with a beret-style hat worn over it.

Vacation planners are costumed employees, whose outfits include an optional baseball-style cap. Unlike other employees, the worker in question will not have the option to take off her hat while wearing her head scarf, Brown said. Vacation planners sell tickets in a box office.

"Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has a long history of accommodating a variety of religious requests from cast members of all faiths with more than 200 accommodations made over the last three years," Brown said. “And this instance was no different."]

The organization has received other complaints over the years from Muslim women who said they have been denied "front-stage jobs" with Disney because of their hijabs.

A Muslim woman who works as a hostess at a Disney-owned restaurant filed a discrimination complaint earlier this year, saying she has repeatedly been sent home without pay for refusing to remove her headscarf at work.

Imane Boudlal, a hostess at Storyteller's Cafe in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and Spa, said she was told she would have to remove her hijab or take a job working out of public view.

That case is ongoing, according to CAIR.

[Updated at 7:32 p.m. Disney officials said they in the process of accomodating the intern's religious requirement and had already come up with a design when CAIR became involved in the case.]

-- Robert Faturechi

Illustration: Rendering of costume accommodation for Disney worker. Credit: Disneyland Resort

Comments

[witman]

Disney caves in.

The headwear and other full body coverings are not part of a religion - it is a cultural element in foreign countries that happen to be primarily Muslim.

These people should be told in no uncertain terms to either accept the cultural norms of the United States, or live in another country.

[Mary]

In this case, Disneyland is right. Everyone knows that candidates for employment are advised verbally and asked to sign documents advising them of a strict dress code. these people are ridiculous and just want their 15 minutes of fame and of course money.

[Rick Kern]

It's unfortunate that Disney had to give in to this. Let's be clear... CAIR does not care about tolerance for anyone else's cultural views but their own.

[emily hofbauer]

People coming into this country (USA) and participate in jobs, events, American life style should respect and support this country's decisions as applied to the true Americans. American should not adjust to every heritage and religious belief, especially when houses of worship are developed for different nationalities to express their religious beliefs.

[AndreaU8]

How disappointing! We don't go to Disneyland to be forced to look at someone's religious attire, we go to escape reality!

"CAIR is urging the company to implement a corporate-wide policy that protects its employees' right to wear religious attire. "

- CAIR is a terrorist supporting organization that is stepping beyond its borders. Disney should NOT have to allow for "costumed" employees to wear a sign of opression!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jane]

I will NEVER visit a Disney park again!

[Disappoint]

It is too bad. Disney shouldn't have had to "give in"...now everyone will want accommodations. Don't like the uniform policy, go work somewhere else. We have rights too. Sorry Disney, you shouldn't have had to accommodate.

[Customer Is Always Right]

No problem, every customer who feels any emotional issue of any type if forced to interact with this employee can simply opt to request another employee to assist them. The customer is always right, and therefore no employee can force any paying customer of Disneyland to be subjected to their expression of religious freedoms through the wearing of any fabric - although Disneyland continues to stand firm on their policies of no visible tatoos, excessive body piercings, facial hair or extreme hairdos.

[pitung]

If a Muslim wants to wear a scarf, then work for a Muslim company who will allowo their employees to wearimWearing scarfs. It is weird to see people wearing Muslim scarfs in Disneyland since this is not a Muslim, but a Christian country! Sad that Disney cave in. This all because BO's statement that America is no longer a Christian country while in fact, Christians are still a majority in this country.

[kuruc]

the jews that head disney, caved in to show how liberal they are. or did they meet with obamamama over beers?

[BLM]

Boooooooo Disney.

[Geoff Trapp]

I don't understand why anyone is complaining about this, least of all Disney.

It doesn't cause me one bit of harm to see the occasional Muslim headscarf being worn by anyone, anywhere, at anytime. It just tells me that person is an observant Muslim.

It does not make my day at Disneyland one bit less fun if an employee there is wearing a headscarf. I just consider it to be an example in action of "It's A Small World".

What do I care if someone is wearing a Muslim headscarf, a Jewish yarmulke, or a Christian cross, so long as the person is polite, kind, and treats me with dignity and respect???

In fact, I consider it a privilege and honor to get to have pleasant interactions with people of various cultural and religious backgrounds. Every interaction you get to have here in America with people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds is a privilege: an opportunity to actually MEET some of these people you have been told to fear/hate, and see that they are not as scary/bad as you were told they were.

You might even find your heart melting a little bit with each new and different person you meet. What a uniquely wonderful and joyous privilege it is to live in the cultural and religious melting pot we call America.

[MartyK]

"CAIR is urging the company to implement a corporate-wide policy that protects its employees' right to wear religious attire."

That's insane. YOU DON'T HAVE A RIGHT TO WEAR RELIGIOUS ATTIRE! Not when you work for a private company. The first amendment is not binding on private people or organizations. It is only binding on the government. Disney has every right to tell its employees what they can and cannot wear.

Maybe it would be OK if I went to work at Disney with a 12" gold cross hanging around my neck with a bleeding Jesus mounted to the front of it? Sorry, America is not a theocracy. Muslims in theocratic Muslim countries wear these things on their heads because they HAVE TO. Not because they want to.

Jobs have uniforms. What if this girl worked at Hooters? What if she were a Laker girl? How about an astronaut? A firefighter? You want to keep the job? Wear your uniform. Your can wear your hijab on your own time.

[barryjoe]

If someone with a purple mohawk and facial piercings showed up after a phone interview, would Disney have caved and hired them as is? I think not.

[Michael]

If Disneyland can make HUGE profits by giving the visitors imaginary trips to foreign lands, (ie. Small World, Tiki Room, Jungle Boat); it is totally appropriate to allow its employees from those lands to express their beliefs.

[Katie]

GREAT!! The Rose Bowl being sold off to foreigners and NOW this?!!

America, ONCE a great land, but now caving in to the VERY religion that would LOVE to see America fall!

[solvingadream]

For decades Disney has denied workers any right for individualization. The muslims come along, and who knows Disney might have received the standard muslim threats.....and Disney caves. I really have no patience or sympathy for these Islamic test cases. The entire purpose of these is to force Sharia-friendly policies on the entire country, not civil rights or religious issues. They deliberately take jobs which will violate their ideology, then demand the job change. She signed a dress code agreement before her first day at work.

There is a storm coming, it has already reached France. We either make a stand, the muslims are not interested in adapting to our culture, they are seeking much more.

I will again never set foot in a Disney park in my lifetime.

[C.C.]

Wrong, Disneyland. The hajib is a symbol of oppression and is offensive to American women.

[diane]

What a Disappointment. Years ago the Catholic nuns gave up their habits in order to fit in with the community.

[lioness]

Emulate France!! Push congress for Rules banning religious attire.

[robert awwad]

My respect to the brave woman who risked her job for her principles. I am not moslem nor follow any religion, but when I see jewish men wearing the yarmulke all over the places, including Disney Land and Universal Studios, I feel that it is discriminatory to pick on a moslem attire.

[Jack]

Everyone is missing the point here. There is no cause for a company to be forced into accommodating religious expression in the workplace. Religious expression is a lifestyle CHOICE and should not be afforded legal protection. In our country, people are free to practice whatever customs or express whichever beliefs they want as long as they don't infringe on the rights of others (you know, like telling me I can't marry the person I love...but that's another story). But, when a company is paying you to do a job, it's not your time to express your religious beliefs. It's time for you to do what the company is paying you to do.

The previous poster who mentioned purple mohawks and piercings is absolutely right. Based on this precedent, I could show up for work like that and just claim it is an expression of my cultural heritage, and that my company cannot oppress my rights to freedom of expression, and it would be absolutely no different. Stop acting like religion is not a man-made enterprise and somehow a permanent and un-changeable part of our fabric. It absolutely does not belong in the workplace in ANY form.

[Tom, Long Beach, California]

Disney caves....how pathetic....guess we visit Knott's and Magic mountain instead....this should not be forced upon America

[Tom, Long Beach, California]

read up disney.....your PC will be your downfall......very few agree with what you did and all are ashamed you HAVE NO SPINE to fight for your own rules....guess tatoos and piercing's are OK now too???? Cannot discriminate as these are "religious" as well.......

[Dee]

This is only the beginning. Muslims are taking over america. All Muslims are against woman showing their body parts, because Muslim men can not be tempted sexually by woman, it's against their religion. Muslims believe that men need to be protected against temptation. Please educate yourselves on WHY women have to cover themselves. It's very upsetting to see that america is allowing this discussing display of women being hidden to comply to a religion that clearly suppresses women as sex objects ~ as the Muslims are offended by our american way of life of allowing women to engage in conversations with men, to give eye contact with men, to kiss and hold men, to allow our women to show their hair, their arms and legs and toes out in public ~ the Muslims stoned their women in their country for our american way of life. How is this okay? Anyone who is in favor of this decision either does not understand Islam or is anti-american.

Boycott Disneyland in California and Florida for being anti-american, because they know the Islamic law and they are complying with their laws, not the laws of america.