The federal government has sued at least two companies alleging discrimination against Muslim women who wanted to wear head scarves to work — a charge also made by a Disneylandhotel employee this week.
That certainly does not mean that Disney would lose should this case ever end up in court.
In other court cases, those wanting to wear religious attire at work have lost.
On Wednesday, Imane Boudlal, a restaurant hostess at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, attempted to report to her job wearing a head scarf for a fourth time; she left each time when she was assigned to work in the back.
Boudlal wants to wear a hijab, or head scarf, as a form of modesty that is part of her Muslim religion. She filed a federal complaint Wednesday.
Disney officials denied they they are discriminating against Boudlal because she was offered a behind-the-scenes assignment while they try to find a solution.
“When any cast member, regardless of religion, requests an exception to our policies for religious reasons, we work hard to make reasonable accommodations,” said Suzi Brown, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman, in an e-mail on Friday. “These have included modifications to costumes where appropriate, placement in different roles when needed, and consideration in scheduling for religious services and holy days.
“Examples of costume modifications include accommodating religious headwear with hats, substituting skirts for pants and lengthening skirt hems to cover ankles. We have also provided many cast members with roles that do not require them to wear a costume.”
Disney has a long-standing, strict dress code, called the Disney Look.
Federal law requires that employers give “reasonable accommodations” to employees so they can practice their religion, as long as it doesn’t create an “undue hardship,” such as financial costs and safety issues. For example, long garments could be forbidden if they could get caught in machinery.
Said Dianna Johnston, assistant legal counsel for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: “It is harder to show that it’s an undue hardship when you talk about dress codes.”
On Wednesday, Boudlal said she filed a religious-discrimination complaint against Disney with the commission.
The commission provided information about similar cases:
- In 2007, a federal Phoenix, Ariz. jury awarded $287,000 in the case of an Alamo Rent a Car employee fired for refusing to take off her head scarf. See the press release about the Alamo case.
- Last year, the commission sued Abercrombie and Fitch for refusing to hire a 17-year-old girl who wore a head scarf to her job interview for Abercrombie Kids in Oklahoma. The head scarf reportedly violated the company’s “Look Policy,” which forbids head coverings. Read the press release about the Abercrombie and Fitch case.Council on American-Islamic Relations also has similar complaints pending against Abercrombie and Fitch in San Francisco.
Other employees have lost cases about religious garments:
- A Muslim police officer, in Philadelphia, lost his federal lawsuit against the city’s department, which refused to let him wear a religious headpiece. The court ruled in the case, filed in 2007, that the police dress code promotes cooperation and sense of authority and neutrality in public.
- In 1990, the same federal court ruled against a public school teacher in Philadelphia, who wanted to wear religious attire, saying the school board needed to preserve religious neutrality in a public school.
In 2004, a former Disney World employee filed a lawsuit, saying she was fired for wearing a hijab on the job in Florida. Disney also offered the woman a behind-the-scenes job. The woman and Disney settled the case out of the court. The terms were confidential, said Frank Allen, the woman’s attorney.
The federal commission has received an increase in religious-discrimination complaints by Muslims. In 2000, there were 84 complaints. Last year, the commission received 214 charges.