Disney Hijab Controversy: Muslim Hostess Calls Disney's Replacement Hijab "Offensive"

ANAHEIM -- (KTLA) A Muslim woman who is fighting for the right to wear her hijab to work says Disney's replacement headress is "offensive."

Imane Boudlal, 26, who is a hostess at the Storyteller's Restaurant in Disneyland's Grand Californian Hotel, says she is not allowed to wear the head scarf while at work and has been sent home seven times times -- without pay.

Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said Disney has a policy not to discriminate and is trying to work out a compromise.

Disney has offered Boudlal a hat to wear on top of a bonnet in place of her own white headscarf but Boudlal says the new uniform does not meet her religious needs and says the hat is embarrassing, especially because she would be the only employee forced to wear it.

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Comments

[FairuzGhowar]

05:04 AM on 09/12/2010

Again what is this stupid assumption that she's not from here????? You are aware muslims are born in the USA everyday :)

[Parthiban Yahambaram]

10:11 AM on 09/11/2010

When I was a little boy, my dream was to go to Disneyland. It never came true unfortunately, but looking back, I can clearly say that the only reason I wanted to go there was BECAUSE all the people there were dressed up as Disney characters or in some cartoonish way. Having people dressed up without looking like they fit in there would just have spoiled the fun of being in Disneyland (for my eight-year old self)

In this case, Disney does have a point. They are selling fantasy, not reality, and the last thing they want is to have staff members dressed like they are in the real world. To twist this policy into 'discrimination' is perverse and hypocritical. Most moderate western Muslims would probably just want this stupid woman to go away and crawl into a hole. Disney cannot be accused of denying her the right to work because they have offered to let her work backstage. This is all about trying to make the headlines. Shame on this woman for being such a hypocrite.

[Janetshusb]

04:49 PM on 09/09/2010

If Disney instituted the policy after she was hired maybe she has a case. But if she signed on with Disney knowing their policy I say chuck her out, she trying to score a bit of cash or she's some sort of self righteous fundy wanting to push her agenda. Note* this is the opinion of a very liberal lefty who believes in cultural diversity, Spanish K-2 for kids of immigrant hispanics, hates the English only idea, thinks the community center/mosque should be built on Park Street, the whole nine yards of diversity. ......................... but knows other aspects of culture have to be honored also in order to get along in a civilized way.

[chthulu]

05:20 PM on 08/30/2010

As a pastafarian of the Ninjaist sect, I demand to be able to wear full ninja regalia at Disneyland. as an expression of my faith. And my Satanist friends should be able to wear their pentagrams. Fellow Christian naturists, should of course be able to go nude, as was biblical in the time of Eden. Stop the shame, return to nature. Thanks, Imane, you are our hero, for opening doors to religious expression everywhere.

[magj0y]

12:52 PM on 08/25/2010

She's suing Disney, of course she was taken off the schedule! She shows up in a hijab only to be sent hom..why make other employees suffer having to cover her shifts?

I don't know of many companies who keep employees on when they're suing them.

[cOOlixiO]

04:01 AM on 08/25/2010

Never will I understand this Hijab thing. Why is a Muslim woman who lives in a free country like USA so keen to wear a Hijab while most young Muslim woman in Iran try to show as much hair as the religion guards allow - or even more.

And, here in Germany the majority of Muslim womand don't wear a Hijab at all - and that does not mean they are not religious or that they are bad Muslims. It's just that the Quran not definitely specifies that a Hijab is immanent.

[camus12]

01:40 AM on 08/27/2010

i think it is more about money than religion , she did work without an hijab for 2 years , so she can do it. She'll settle , get 50 000 grounds and we'll never hear about it again.

[Susan Shaffer]

12:15 AM on 10/02/2010

this girl will never get a job

we know her name

we know she worked at disney

She will put in resumes and she will not get jobs because of this

if she gets 50k out of disney then I would certainly NEVER employ this sort of person

My husband is pakistani and my kids loved disney and we paid WAY TOO MUCH but we paid for the fantasy. My kids can see girls like this in the village back home. I don't need to pay to see them.

[riff4u]

12:41 AM on 08/30/2010

Hijab is a personal choice.........in Iran women are forced to wear it outside of their homes, therefore they are protesting their stupid government. In France it is illegal to wear a burqa, therefore many women are wearing one to protest their stupid government.

[uansari1]

05:32 PM on 09/30/2010

Precisely. Amazingly, when people are free to practice their religion however they want, they do! Just one of the reasons this country is so great.

[MaryJane]

12:58 AM on 08/25/2010

When I was there the place employeed way too many christian freaks.

[Msfper]

10:17 PM on 08/24/2010

Seriously... I had been wanting to get tattooed on my wrists for a long, long time... the thing that held me back was the "no visible tattoos" clause at Disneyland! At 40 I finally got them and while getting them I said to the tattooo artist, "Well, there goes my chance to work at Disneyland! He laughed, I laughed. But deep down, I lamented... I'll never be able to work there. My God, what have I done!

[Valerie Keefe]

07:22 PM on 08/24/2010

Well, my girlfriend had an excellent solution: Entertainment industries that feel the need to use labour laws to control their image, are not allowed to avail themselves of copyright law, or the subsidy of public lawyers in the justice department, to do what they're clearly able to use labour laws to do beyond, say, five years?

Seems reasonable to me. If they don't like it, they can find another country to do business in. One that accepts their religion of extreme conformism.

[PresidentRobertBooth]

06:53 PM on 08/24/2010

I worked for Disney once.

Had to walk all day dressed as Donald Duck


I never complained.

[Valerie Keefe]

07:13 PM on 08/24/2010

Yeah... um, she's a hostess at a restauraunt and while the uniform is costume, the homburg is clearly meant to humiliate and serves no purpose in making this kingdom in any way more 'magic.'

[Scott Zwartz]

09:01 PM on 08/24/2010

So why do your words have British spellings? Labour

[Susan Shaffer]

12:23 AM on 10/02/2010

depends on the theme of the restaurant.
we went to one which was 17th americana and the women wore ....sorry stuck for words but whatever it is called it was certainly more humiliating to wear than a homburg. you know if its your birthday they give you a cake and sing happy birthday. my three kids had birthdays each day. we got our money's worth

[Telly Savalas]

06:06 PM on 08/24/2010

Sent home "without pay"?
There is some question that she should get paid for her obstinancy?
She really DOES belong in Fantasyland......

[Telly Savalas]

06:02 PM on 08/24/2010

If she wants to wear whatever she wants when she wants, then maybe she should try Afghanistan?
Seriously....... don't like woking for Disney? Then don't........ that's the freedom of choice you get, honey.
I don't want to see or hear your religious statements when I go out to dinner and I'll bet you wouldn't like it if the situation were reversed....... pray to who/whatever you want - on your own time. You also have the right to be gullible......

[blukazoo]

05:15 PM on 08/24/2010

Oops, the post below should have said "she forgoes wearing the hijab..."

[blukazoo]

05:14 PM on 08/24/2010

"...does not meet her religious needs and says the hat is embarrassing, especially because she would be the only employee forced to wear it."

She's not embarrassed to be the only employee wearing a hijab. She's been working there for more than 2 years and never had a problem. The hat over the top does nothing to the hijab to make it less religious. I assume she is here to live the American dream. In America, employers can make rules that conflict with some religions (such as having to work on the sabbath or on holidays).

It's really her choice--either she forgoes wearing the costume and keeps her job or she chooses her religious beliefs and finds another job that won't have a problem with the hijab. It's her problem, not theirs.

[FairuzGhowar]

04:49 AM on 09/12/2010

why do you assume she wasn't born here? By the way the American dream died 9 yrs ago.

[FairuzGhowar]

04:58 AM on 09/12/2010

I'm going with Disney on this one. You don't get to play Belle on broadway in a hijab either. Either wear the hat or ask to be transferred to small world or Morocco Epcot or dress as mickey...noone cares if you think the costume is ugly...go home.

[uansari1]

05:42 PM on 09/30/2010

So they could also demand that an albino use body paint, or that someone undergoing cancer treatment (for the sake of argument) wear a wig? Extreme examples, I know, but one can argue that wearing hijab or a scarf that some orthodox Jewish women wear isn't open to negotiation... that it's an inherent condition and can't be changed.

Anyway, the arguments about employers being able to make dress codes is fine... but any dress code can't trump federal law, which prohibits infringing on one's religious beliefs and practices, unless it's for reasons of safety or hygiene.

[Kevin Bard]

04:45 PM on 08/24/2010

Just because you believe in a sky god doesn't mean you get a fashion loophole on the job. Workplaces often regulate an employee's attire.

So if I'm a banker who worships the Lord of Denim, does that mean I can sue if I am fired for not wearing a suit and tie?

Someone's been giving this young lady some bad legal advice.

[FairuzGhowar]

04:49 AM on 09/12/2010

agreed