Walt Disney World backs away from possible lawsuit.
AB Wire
NEW YORK: ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’ as Walt Disney World promoted itself in Florida hid a lot of ugly truths, including the fact that a Sikh mail deliveryman, Gurdit Singh, had been allocated a different route than other ‘normal’ workers, for the last seven years, which was a secluded one where no visitors were allowed. Why? So that people who flock to the popular vacation destination don’t get all worked up over seeing the beard and turban of Singh.
That is no fantasy story was proved on Thursday when reports came out that the management of Disney bowed recently to a complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Sikh Coalition against the discrimination showed to Singh. The Sikh employee can now deliver mail on the same route as other workers too, his beard and turban intact.
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Of course, Disney had the absurd rule of the ‘The Disney Look’ in place to fall back on as an excuse to discriminate against Singh, who by the mandates of his religion is not supposed to shorn his beard and hair.
‘The Disney Look’ requires workers to have neatly cut hair, no unnatural hair colors and no visible tattoos. The company only started allowing workers to grow beards in 2012, but the beards have to be neatly trimmed, reported the Associated Press.
Walt Disney World Resort issued a letter last month saying that Gurdit Singh would be granted a religious accommodation from Disney’s strict grooming guidelines.
The ACLU and The Sikh Coalition had threatened legal action. Only last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Muslim woman who didn’t get hired by Abercrombie & Fitch after showing up wearing a religious headscarf, also known as a hijab.
“The court made clear that companies can’t just turn a blind eye to employees who need accommodating,” Heather Weaver, an ACLU attorney who represented Singh, said Friday.
The ACLU said in a statement: “Because Disney is a major multinational corporation, its decision to grant Mr. Singh a religious accommodation is an important step forward in achieving workplace equality for Sikhs and others of minority faiths, and Disney should be applauded,” the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.
Disney attorney Armando Rodriguez-Feo said in the letter that the company is devoted to diversity.
“The Walt Disney World Resort responds positively to requests for reasonable religious accommodations that do not create an undue hardship for the company,” Rodriguez-Feo said.
Singh had been denied career advancements and been segregated from co-workers because he was limited to a single route outside the view of Disney guests, according to a letter Singh’s attorneys sent top Disney CEO Robert Iger and other Disney executives, reported the AP.
Singh is made to feel “singled-out, humiliated, and ashamed because of the way he looks and what he believes,” the letter said.
The Disney Look has previously clashed with the religious garb of its workers.
A Muslim employee who had worked at a cafe at Disney’s California Adventured sued the company in 2012 for religious discrimination when she says she was denied the right to wear a hijab. Imane Boudlal claimed her managers told her she could either work in a back area where she wouldn’t be seen by guests or wear a fedora on top of the hijab. She said she was fired when she refused. The lawsuit was eventually settled, Weaver said.
“My hope is that this policy change opens up the door for more Sikhs and other religious minorities to practice their faith freely here at Disney,” Gurdit Singh said in a statement. “My turban and beard serve as a constant reminder of my commitment to my faith… these articles remind everybody that we’re all equal. That’s not just a Sikh value, that’s an American value.”
“My turban and beard serve as a constant reminder of my commitment to my faith,” Singh said in a statement, adding that he was thankful Disney had changed its policy. “In Sikhism, these articles remind everybody that we’re all equal. That’s not just a Sikh value, that’s an American value….My hope is that this policy change opens up the door for more Sikhs and other religious minorities to practice their faith freely here at Disney.”
CNNMoney reported Singh, who had several years of hospitality service, had initially applied to be a doorman working directly with guests at the theme park. He was denied that position and told his “costume” didn’t match Disney’s “costume,” according to Gurjot Raur, Singh’s lawyer from the Sikh Coalition.
Raur told CNNMoney on Friday that her client had been segregated from the public for almost seven years, which had caused him to have a greater workload and created tension among his co-workers.
“He’s extremely excited to be fully integrated and made to feel like a real person in the workforce,” Raur said. “We’re excited that Disney decided to do the right thing without a lawsuit.”