Never miss a story — sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan benefits news.
Benefits August 24, 2010
Muslim Woman Suing Disney Won’t Agree to Accommodations
August 24, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A Muslim woman who has filed a discrimination complaint against Disney Co. says she won't wear a specially designed hat instead of her hijab.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
According to the Associated Press, Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown says the head covering accommodates both Imane Boudlal’s beliefs and Disney costuming guidelines. “Typically, somebody in an on-stage position like hers wouldn’t wear something like that, that’s not part of the costume,” Brown told the AP. “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.”
Boudlal says Disney’s suggested hat-and-bonnet is embarrassing and makes a joke of her religion. She has gone home without pay seven times rather than remove her hijab or accept jobs away from customers, according to the news report.
Boudlal works as a hostess at the Storytellers Café at Disneyland Resort’s Grand Californian hotel. She filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, charging she wasn’t allowed to wear her hijab, a headscarf some Muslim women wear as a sign of modesty, in front of customers.