Muslim Employee Suing Disney Over Right to Wear Hijab

August 14, 2012 - 5:13 pm | Category: Money

A Muslim woman filed suit against Disney Monday claiming her bosses at a Disneyland restaurant wouldn’t allow her to wear her religious headscarf at work.

The disagreement has been going on for a few years, but it’s heated up now that the American Civil Liberties Union has joined the fray. Morocco-born U.S. citizen Imane Boudlal worked at the Storyteller Cafe at Disney’s Grand California Hotel and learned she had the right to wear her hijab to work after studying to become a U.S. citizen. But when she tried to wear it, her bosses told her to take off or go into the back where she couldn’t be seen by customers. As a compromise, Disney said she could wear a hat over the scarf, but she thought it made her look like “a joke.”

A Disney spokeswoman said the company “values diversity and has a long-standing policy against discrimination” but “somebody in an on-stage position like hers wouldn’t wear something like that, that’s not part of the costume.”