Woman Sues Disney Over Harassment, Religious Discrimination

[rug]

Imane Boudlal alleges she was subjected to anti-Muslim and anti-Arab slurs while working at Disney's California Adventure



Imane Boudlal, right, a Muslim woman who worked as a hostess at a Disneyland restaurant, covers her face as she leaves Disney's Grand Californian Hotel with civil rights coordinator Affad Shaikh, left, after she was denied by her employer in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010. Boudlal claims her employer sent her home without pay after she refused to remove her head scarf in front of customers. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

By Jason Kandel
Monday, Aug 13, 2012 | Updated 2:24 PM PDT

Α former employee at Disney’s California Adventure filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming she was subjected to anti-Muslim and anti-Arab slurs and was fired for wearing a Muslim headscarf.

Imane Boudlal, 28, alleges coworkers and supervisors called her her a “terrorist," a “camel” and "Kunta Kinte," the slave in the book "Roots" by Alex Haley from the time she started working at Storytellers Café at the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa in April 2008.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in a federal court in Santa Ana, alleges harassment and religious discrimination because she is a North African Arab and a Muslim.

"Ms. Boudlal’s co-workers also mocked her by stating, among other things, that Arabs are terrorists, that she speaks the terrorist language and that she was trained to make bombs," according to the complaint.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Muslim-Woman-Sues-Disney-Harassment-Religious-Discrimination-166007706.html

[pnwmom]

1. They offered her the chance to wear her head scarf with a hat over it,

or to take a behind-the-scenes job.

There isn't any religious objection to wearing hats over scarves, as I understand it.

But the harassment, if it occurred, is a serious issue.

[Confusious]

2. Same thing

This suit has been going on since 2010.

Seems Disney has a long standing ban on religous attire, and she got the job, and then had a regions awaking, and decided to wear the hijab.

They also tried to make accommodations for her, but I guess she refused.

I'm no fan of Disney, but I'm an even lesser fan of trying to impose your religious values on someone else, when you expressly knew it was not allowed when you took the job.

If Disney had said it was ok, and then changed it's policy, or didn't apply it equally, I would be in agreement that it was wrong.

The way this has turned out, I'm not.

[rug]

3. The suit was filed today. The harassment has been going on before 2010.

"Boudlal, a naturalized U.S. citizen, said she faced harassment as soon as she started working there.

“'It only got worse when I decided to wear a hijab,' she said. 'My journey towards wearing it couldn’t have been more American; it began at my naturalization ceremony. I realized that I had the freedom to be who I want and freely practice my religion. Neither Disney nor anyone else can take that from me'”

They offered the other woman this:



They offered this woman a black fedora or a place out of sight.

The ACLU has a case.

[Confusious]

4. She's been complaining since 2010

http://ocresort.ocregister.com/2010/08/18/muslim-employee-accuses-disney-of-discrimination/53409/

date, 2010. Article also talks about the new york muslim center as current news.

"In 2004, a former Disney World employee sued the company, saying she was fired for wearing a hijab on the job in Orlando, Fla.. Disney also offered the woman a behind-the-scenes job. Complaints have also been filed about the issue against other high-profile companies, including McDonald’s and Abercrombie and Fitch.

Disney is known for its strict dress code, called the Disney Look, which has been in place since 1957.

In June, Disney for the first time allowed women to have bare legs when wearing skirts or dresses. Moustaches were banned until 2000. See a recent story about the Disney dress code."

You don't like the rules? don't take the job.

Disney was trying to be accommodating. She just didn't like their solutions.

Most times, you would have been fired off the bat.

PS. I also find it kinda funny that shes wrapping it in "religious freedom." most places in north africa, if you don't wear the hijab, they kill you. She came here, and all the sudden wanted to wear it?

[rug]

5. "You don't like the rules? don't take the job."

Fortunately, that mentality was outlawed a half century ago in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

As it pertains to this woman, this section applies:

&quot j) The term 'religion' includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate to an employee’s or prospective employee’s religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business."

Giving someone a choice between wearing a fedora or staying out of sight is not a reasonable accommodation. And it's a spurious assertion since Disney already demonstrated it can.

[Confusious]

6. Maybe they did

How do you know she didn't refused that compromise also?

she seemed to have refused a lot of compromises.

Seems kind of stupid for the company to go through all the trouble when they had the solution already.

The last one was also moved out of sight for 5 months, while they came up with that.

Seem like she jut got tired of waiting and wanted a big payout.