Uh oh... DL bans employee Islamic head scarf

[Funball]

i have someting else to say but it seem i just threw up in my mouth...i'll be back! sorry everyone, sorry it has nothing to do with op or this thread.....


ok i agree with the moderator!

 

[sayhello]

This is not an issue of what people care about seeing in the parks. It was an issue that the employee (after 2 years of service) wants to now wear it. Which also is fine! It is nice to see people do that.

However her employment is based on being a cast member in a costume! If it does not fit the theme it may look weird. It wouldn't ruin my trip at all! It may cause some confusion for younger children as why the costumes differed. Which is an easy explanation by a parent.

Anyways, she was offered to accommodate her wishes. Which is more than many employers in this time would have done. Disney tried and the offer was refused. Hope she read her employee handbook before spending money on a lawyer.

I don't think she spent money on a lawyer. It looks like her Union has jumped all over this as an issue, so my guess is, they're providing the lawyer for her.

I see your point, for sure. There sure isn't a right and wrong answer for any of this - so much grey area. I hope Disney and their employee get it worked out soon, in an amicable fashion on both their parts.

Nothing grey about it. She agreed to dress according to the Disney Look when she accepted the job, and now she wants to change the conditions of her employment. Disney is being extremely accommodating, but she has refused to compromise, and is now suing because she doesn't like what she agreed to 2 1/2 years ago. She should find a job with a less strict dress code if she now doesn't like the dress code she agreed to.

Sayhello

 

[pycees312]

It's a small world comes to mind here......
So should the animatronics not have on religious garmets for fear of the customer? no one complains about that. And that is a Disneyland/World staple... Those who would take offense to seeing her scarf are deep down harboring something within themselves. So what if she wore it. If you children questioned it a simple answer would suffice... it's only a big deal if you make it a big deal... ONLY in AMERICA go figure.
Disney is still and employeer and is not immune as this type of stuff would not fly in another Corp office. and that is COLD to say go find another job. Just plain cold in my opinion.

 

[FlameGirl]

It's a small world comes to mind here......
So should the animatronics not have on religious garmets for fear of the customer? no one complains about that. And that is a Disneyland/World staple... Those who would take offense to seeing her scarf are deep down harboring something within themselves. So what if she wore it. If you children questioned it a simple answer would suffice... it's only a big deal if you make it a big deal... ONLY in AMERICA go figure.
Disney is still and employeer and is not immune as this type of stuff would not fly in another Corp office. and that is COLD to say go find another job. Just plain cold in my opinion.

Disney's request that she not wear the garment wasn't for fear of offending anyone...it's because it doesn't fit their dress code. Most employers that issue a uniform do not let you modify the uniform in any way. Your comparison isn't a good example because the ride is put there to celebrate all cultures. The uniform is put there so that everyone that works there can be....uniform. The same.

She agreed to take the job and to adhere to their dress code. Now, a few years later, she's trying to reneg and she or her union is going after Disney because they have deep pockets and Disney will probably pay her off to quiet her down to avoid exactly what this negative publicity is doing...creating a stir and making Disney look like the big bad anti-Muslim corporation, which it isn't. SHE is the one who is cold, in my opinion.

 

[WonkaKid]

Now, a few years later, she's trying to reneg and she or her union is going after Disney because they have deep pockets and Disney will probably pay her off to quiet her down to avoid exactly what this negative publicity is doing...creating a stir and making Disney look like the big bad anti-Muslim corporation, which it isn't.

Precisely. It sounds like Disney was as accommodating as it could be, reasonably. If you allow personal modifications of the/a Disney uniform, very soon there won't *be* a uniform. Allowing no changes to it discriminates against no one.

 

[BELLEDOZER]

IMHO, if she was a new employee and wore her religious garment it would be different in my mind. But by working there for over 2 years she should have known what the dress code was by then. By agreeing to be employed by Disney, she agreed to the terms of the dress code. She knew what she was getting into by doing what she did, and as far as I"m concerned I hope that she loses her lawsuit. By the way iheartdisney, I take offence to you crack at people who have peanut allergies. I have a deadly allergic reaction to Peanuts, and both of my sons are allergic to them. This is something as a parent, and for my own health that I have to monitor on a daily basis, and try not to make a fuss of. At the school that my DS's go to, if a child has an allergy, especially peanuts, then they make the room a Peanut Free zone. And any treats that are brought in for the classes for birthdays have to be peanut free. Be careful of the words you say, as you might eat them the next day.

 

[CMHusband]

If Disney allows this cast member to wear the scarf would they then be forced to allow red dots on the forehead? Turbans? Burkas? "Hey, they let her wear a scarf to show her religion. I want to go naked to show my new nature worshiping religion."

She learned enough about the US to know that it was lawyer time! I'll bet she just learned all about unemployment too. What employer will want to hire her now? Suing your employer doesn't look real good on the resume.

Next she'll want to stop and pray every 30 minutes too and everyone has to wait for her to "practice her religion" Do "your thing" on "your time" Its pretty much that simple. Disney has rights too.

 

[CMHusband]

i only read some of it. soo why didn't she do a backstage job?

She said it was humiliating, and they were making her work backstage because she was a muslim.

 

[CMHusband]

i feel sorry for that employee, the islamic scarf is a symbol of religion for them and coulture and seriously disney will be that narrow minded and take it away!? that is just wrong.... but IMHO!

So.. Lets say I'm all about Jesus and I work in attractions on Space Mountain and want to wear a giant wooden cross with Jesus nailed to it, tied to a leather string around my neck all day while I'm loading the ride...Should Disney allow that too? Freedom is not without limits...In fact it's getting to be quite the opposite.

 

[Bell30012]

She is still free to practice her religion any way that she wishes. Just as Disney is free to not have her doing it while in their employee. Disney offered her alternatives, she turned them down.

If Disney allows one religion's practice they open a floodgate to all other religions and there are lots of them. Just imagine some of the religious practices that they would be forced to allow. Can you see a ride operator, laying out his prayer rug and beginning a long prayer while a ride is operating? How about a cast member's uniform after his conversion to Hare Krishna?

Hopefully now when she begins her job search the fame and publicity that this case has generated will make it so difficult to find a good paying job that she will learn a valuable lesson about trying to force your employer to bow to you in the United States. People just don't line up to hire those that have sued their former employer.

 

[darren123]

This story made National News here in Australia today. I am glad I read the story here first and got the truth because the News made Disney look bad.

 

[derricksonb]

If this case somehow makes it to court I believe a 2008 ruling in a Florida case may be cited as setting a precedent on religious expectations verses states (employers) rights.

In the ruling Judge Thorpe stated, "though Freeman held a sincere religious belief that she should wear the hijab in front of all strangers, she did not prove that "the photo requirement itself substantially burdens her right to free exercise of religion..." On the other hand, the judge said in the ruling, the state did show that "having access to photo image identification is essential to promote" the state's "compelling interest in protecting the public."

In this case it could be argued that "protecting the public" could be interpreted as "protecting the best interest and public image of the Walt Disney Company, it's theme parks and customers."

 

[Teki]

IMHO she was told it was not part of her uniform she cant wear it. I am unsympathetic with her in the least. I work for a major retail chain and I have to wear a uniform I wouldn't be allowed to wear a religious artifacts either and I think this complaint is a plea for attention. It says right in the article Disney gave her options and that she refused to take them. In addition she didn't wear it for the 2 years she was working there and it didn't seem to be a problem why then all of a sudden is it a problem. I am all for religious freedom the country was founded on it. I don't think Disney is persecuting her for her region I think they simply want her to be in uniform.

 

[Funball]

She said it was humiliating, and they were making her work backstage because she was a muslim.

okw ell then i DONT feel bad for her anymore!

so to freakin bad for her! she can go jump in a lake!

 

[Bell30012]

I wonder if she's wearing the scarf at the unemployment office each week?

 

[Funball]

I wonder if she's wearing the scarf at the unemployment office each week?

probably..maybe that is why she is getting the jobs that she has had or has..

 

[WonkaKid]

I wonder if she's wearing the scarf at the unemployment office each week?

They don't allow them ;-).

 

[tommycairns]

This is not an issue of religion. Historically both the hijab and the burhka predate Islam by a number of years, and that they really have no religious significance. These items had been asimilated from the Persian and Byzantine societies, and were viewed as being useful in the subjugation of woman and as such became integrated into Islamic use for this purpose. To compare these garments with overt displays of religious symbolism is not correct, Bloom and Blair write that the Q'ran doesn't require women to wear veils; rather, it was a social habit picked up with the expansion of Islam. In fact, since it was impractical for working women to wear veils, "A veiled woman silently announced that her husband was rich enough to keep her idle". To compare these garments with crucifixes, yarmulhkas (sp.), stars of David and other such religious symbols is a common mistake. It is an archaic symbol of a Patriarchal society.

 

[tommycairns]

Good point. It just angers me; to have someone want the “American Way”, then dis it like this. Do they stone people in Morocco for actions against contracts with employers? I am a proud American and am just getting a bit fed up with all this disrespect for my country. This is emotional for me.

I thought this was the American way;

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door"

 

[tommycairns]

I may be mistaken, but even the hostesses have uniforms that fit the theme of the restaurant / resort in which they work. While the hijab may not have been distracting it may not have fit in with the theme or complimented the uniform. I'm not going to speak to how much prior knowledge she had of US law or assume that this was in response to her citizenship classes, but it appears as though Disney did try to accommodate her. Perhaps while learning about the rights of AMERICAN citizens she should have also read where the contract between employer and employee may be broken by either party at any time. Failure to comply with the dress code would certainly apply.

She could always do something with an Aladdin attraction