The "Disney Look"

[macsmom]

Yeah, but that guy didn't dress like that because of his religious beliefs. That was just his personal style. I agree that if you are going into an interview you should dress appropriately. This is about his religious beliefs, he can't just shave his beard and not wear his turban. He is required to dress that way according to his religion. You are totally missing the point of the conflict.

Actually, I did not miss the point. Someone previously had mentioned about how younger people think they should get whatever they want, etc. I was answering her(?) post.

danna

 

[TigerLily_CM]

The guidelines are strict...I recall my lengthy sheet of the Disney "look" it specified length of nails, colour of makeup, size of earrings, tattoos (a big no-no), facial hair, posture, pointing, how to roll up sleeves (on costumes where sleeve rolling was acceptable), colour of pantyhose, shoelaces (colour and methods of tying/lacing), acceptable jewelry, hair colour the list goes on and on and on and on.............

I have seen people get warnings and one person lose their job (she got a tongue ring) over not complying with Disney rules so if he was informed (which I believe he was) about the rules and broke them he should be fired BUT if Disney hired him as a person with a turban and beard and employed him for a period of time wearing the turban and beard then perhaps there's more to the story. I don't think it's fair to let him work then just change their mind arbitrarily.

then again maybe he was actually let go for another reason and he thought he'd use this to get back at Disney :shrug: or, since he was a soldier in a parade maybe he was one of the MANY seasonal employees and was going to let go at the end of the Christmas season anyway

 

[DisneySaint]

This thread has inspired me to apply at Hooters!

 

[EpcotLover77]

Disneyland's policies were discriminatory then as well. Walt Disney's clean-cut policy was a direct result of his own discrimination (which is well-documented). Disneyland also didn't permit blacks to even enter the park, so what has been done in the past is not relevant. And which subsequently was ruled unconstitutional.

If I can jump in here for a second on a little side point...Sammy Davis, Jr. was in Disneyland on opening day, riding in an Autopia car. His father was African-American, and his mother was either Cuban or Puerto Rican (info from Wikipedia). I have the opening day special on DVD (hooray for the Disney Treasures!) and remember the part where Sammy and Frank Sinatra go by in Autopia cars. I'm wondering how Sammy Davis, Jr. fits into the whole "no blacks in Disneyland" story?

This has been a very interesting discussion! Carry on.

 

[TigerLily_CM]

Wow. The racists have really come out. Disneyland's policies were discriminatory then as well. Walt Disney's clean-cut policy was a direct result of his own discrimination (which is well-documented). Disneyland also didn't permit blacks to even enter the park,

uhhhhh...that's not true, why would you say that? There's video documents of opening day that proves you wrong. Who's calling who a racist.

 

[TigerLily_CM]

Hi Fosse...I knew I saw a picture somewhere...

This is a picture of Disneyland with the finalists participating in the pancake flipping competition, they started the competition in 1959, not sure what year this is from but I would say it's probably before 1965 so Walt seemed OK with it then.

 

[Giraffe Lounge]

The "cast member" thing is cute, but I think it becomes BS at a certain point.

Is the guy pushing a broom down Main Street "playing the part" of a janitor, or is he a janitor?

Is the girl who takes your order at Cosmic Ray's "assuming the role" of a fast-food worker, or is she a fast-food worker?

I know which answer Disney gives, and I think it's a fun little conceit, but in the end, it's just a semantic device to try to turn cashiers into actors. I would hardly consider it a valid legal defense.

Basically, once you get past entertainment, attractions and the occasional really motivated person who can turn ANYthing into a whimsical role, you're left with cashiers being cashiers. Or cashiers pretending to be actors pretending to be cashiers, if you want to get really meta about it.

Hope I don't come off as a Grinch here. I like pixie dust and all, but I also think it gets taken too seriously sometimes. :shrug:

Thank you. I'm glad someone else here sees through the semantics.

 

[mickeydude]

he was in the band and had a mask and hat over his beard and turban According to the suit, while Walt Disney World[/url] as a seasonal college musician in October 2005, which involves parade and atmospheric performances. While performing onstage in parades, he was in a toy soldier costume, with the soldier hat covering his turban and the soldier head hiding his beard. At first, he was allowed to wear a red turban instead of the standard red tubran in atmospheric performances, but he was removed from the atmospheric position due to not complying with "The Disney Look." Channa was terminated in early 2006 on the grounds of violating the grooming standards, and when he applied for reinstatement as a seasonal musician in October 2006, he was denied on the same basis. The lawsuit, filed by Miami attorney Matt Sarelson in Hillsborough County circuit court on behalf of Channa and the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund (SALDEF), alleges that Disney is violating the Florida Civil Rights Act. The suit seeks damages of at least $1 million and asks that the court prevent Disney from discriminating against Sikh employees and prospective employees this all happen in 2005 and he want to be rehire and they didn't have a part for him. it sounds like it was at christmas time he was a toy soldier

it has nothing to do with him being a sikh, the fact is he has violated the dress code, at my school people cant wear dye in their hair or nail varnish or anything, as it is not our school 'look', every place has a look it wants to send to the world, and in disney ' look ' it very important since just having a job there means you are apart of a happy wide show, and you must fit in with the happy dress code, or you do not match, my cousin went and worked for disney, he was not allowed to where his cross or have dye in his hair, so he didn't wear his cross and didn't put dye in his hair, he didn't go suing like a crazy man, i just wish this would not bring his religion into this, it just makes the whole situation bad, and it has nothing to do with his religion, and as someone said before, disney cannot show favor to a religion, as many different reliogions work in disney and it may cause offense to people if one is favoured, so if disney let him where his sikh stuff then disney would be laxing the rules and favoring sikhs, disney cannot do this because they cannot favor a religion. but this has nothing to do with his religion anyway, its just the fact he has violated the rules and regulations of disney by wearing his turban and having an unshaven face. deal with rules, and stick to rules if you want a job in that place.
crazy people:hammer:
want to sue when there is nothing to sue:lol::lol:

 

[mickeydude]

Hi Fosse...I knew I saw a picture somewhere...

This is a picture of Disneyland with the finalists participating in the pancake flipping competition, they started the competition in 1959, not sure what year this is from but I would say it's probably before 1965 so Walt seemed OK with it then.

walt seemed OK with what then?
there is no violation of dress code where i can see
- if im wrong please point out the violation

 

[Giraffe Lounge]

walt seemed OK with what then?
there is no violation of dress code where i can see
- if im wrong please point out the violation

Im pretty sure thats in response to segregation at Disneyland, not uniform violations.

 

[mickeydude]

It sounds like he was there, in a parade, but not as an employee of Disney. Disney has grand marshall's of their parade that are guests. I find it hard to believe that they force these people to adhere to Disney's standards when they're not employed by Disney.



That might be the most ignorant statement in this site's history. This guy was not fired because of 9/11, he was fired because he didn't adhere to certain appearance standards. This is no difference then not allowing an Orthodox Jew to work there with a long beard and Yarmulke.



I'm guessing this was a joke, but in all seriousness, the Jack Sparrow face character has a glued on beard. Disney won't allow them to grow their own. Jafar is a cartoon character, and I guarantee that the person that's wearing the Jafar costume doesn't have a beard or turban.

thank you so much!
im glad their is another person with intelligence and understanding on this site, you words are true and well said :sohappy:

 

[mickeydude]

Im pretty sure thats in response to segregation at Disneyland, not uniform violations.

yea but the situation we are talking about is a guy violating a dress code and getting fired, it has absolutly nothing to do with his race or religion, they are not segregating people at all
he violated the dress code, so got fired, just like he should, like any other employee who breaks the rules at disney

 

[Giraffe Lounge]

yea but the situation we are talking about is a guy violating a dress code and getting fired, it has absolutly nothing to do with his race or religion, they are not segregating people at all
he violated the dress code, so got fired, just like he should, like any other employee who breaks the rules at disney

Go back and reread posts 72, 104, and 106 carefully. :brick:

 

[mickeydude]

Go back and reread posts 74, 104, and 106 carefully. :brick:

oh sorry, you were fighting a different fight to me
and yes i too have that dvd of the black man in the park:animwink:

 

[mickeydude]

Growing a beard is not a mandatory part of the muslim faith. It might be encouraged but its not mandatory.

From my personal stand point I have no problem with any facial hair as long as it well kept.

Parts of the Disney Company are able to have diffrent types of facial hair while others are not.

I'm 99.999999999% sure that everyone who has any facial hair is told about "The Disney Look" in the hiring process.

thank you InsideOtherPark for telling the incorrect people the truth about the beard thing, and how it is not needed

 

[flashinghelmet]

Disney DOES discriminate based on religion and nationality though!!

Candle light procession etc!!!!! how is that not favouring Christianity???? They allow wedding rings. They allow the American flag to be worn and no others!!! This all detracts from the themeing. And don't even get me started about cornrow weaves.

Why are you guys bringing in hair colour??? Hair colour is a free choice. Wearing a turban is not. AND FOR THE Nth TIME, HE IS SIKH NOT MUSLIM!! Are you guys really that ignorant.

Yes i understand that Disney has guidelines, and i find many of them completely discriminatory. The facts here, are that he was employed WITH the beard and turban. And then fired him part way through employment. That is the issue here.

If it weren't, i would still argue that he should be allow th turban and beard. For a true Sikh, not being allowed this, would be like you not being allow to wear a top at work.

And please don't even get me started on the 'he can work somewhere else if he wants to' argument! That is just truly pathetic. A free democratic society allows anyone to work anywhere, as long as they are capable of performing the job. I'm not entirely sure a wheelchair fits the themeing of many parts of Disney, but it is allowed. It is disrimination, because it isn't a choice that this man has to wear a turban and have a beard. Sikhism isn't just some fad religion. It's a religion with thousands of years of history and culture. Far more so than the star and stripes, which happily detracts from the theme-ing.

Oh and it isn't a requirement for a Muslim to have a beard, look at the Moroccan pavilion.

 

[tigsmom]

Finally got the chance to look up the original story... seasonal employee who left when the job was over (not fired). Question about whether he reapplied or not. Two sides to every story...

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_tourism_aviation/2008/06/sikh-musician-s.html


Respectfully request that if this conversation continues that we stop the name calling and try to keep this civilized (as it has been for the most part), if not I see it being locked or pulled.

 

[TigerLily_CM]

Finally got the chance to look up the original story... seasonal employee who left when the job was over (not fired). Question about whether he reapplied or not. Two sides to every story...

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_tourism_aviation/2008/06/sikh-musician-s.html


Respectfully request that if this conversation continues that we stop the name calling and try to keep this civilized (as it has been for the most part), if not I see it being locked or pulled.

This proves that my previous post (though it was a theory at the time) was absolutely correct!!!! Thanks.

Just as I suspected, he was hired for the Christmas Holiday proving, first of all that Disney DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE!!!!! Then he's angry because he was not hired back the next year.

here's a few points for those of you who believe Disney did something wrong to consider:

1. He was hired and allowed to wear his turban when it was covered by the costume so, no, Disney did not discriminate against him at all

2. He was not FIRED...his contract was a seasonal one so he knew at the time he was hired it was only for a few months

3. He's angry at not being called back for the next year...get over it whiner...there are hundreds if not thousands of people that want the job in the parade every year, just because you were in it once, you won't be guaranteed the job again next year

4. He had the job when he was a student at Florida U...he is no longer a student there yet he wants the same job. MOST of the seasonal parade jobs are ONLY for University Student bands.

5. He's the reason that people think you can sue for ANYTHING in the U.S. It's people like him that keep that trend alive unfortunately

Hopefully he'll get a clue and get a life and not try to continue this rediculous lawsuit. :brick::brick::brick::brick:

 

[The Mom]

Could we please try to keep this civil?

Just a few points of information.

As has been stated numerous times, Sikhs are NOT Muslims.

The religion is not thousands of years old, but has been around for almost 500 years, which makes it older than many mainstream Protestant denominations.

There are 5 tenents of dress that must be adhered to, and are listed in the following order, which may or may not imply their importance (ie, you can forgo it and still be an observent Sikh....but it depends upon your Guru)

1. Hair must never be cut. It is custom (but almost universally adhered to) that men cover their hair with a turban, as that was done by their founder. A man also has a special "turbaning" that is part of funereal rites when his father dies, signifying that he is now the head of the family. Some women also wear turbans, but it is rare. Most just wear the local headcovering.

2. There is special, small comb which is to be worn at all times.

3. There is a special bracelet which is to be worn at all times.

4. A small ceremonial sword is to worn at all times.

5. A special undergarment is to be worn at all times.

I bolded the requirement that might give some people who have no problem with turbans/beards a brief pause. I personally have no problem with it, but some might.

Although the Disney company is publically traded, it is still owned by private citizens (stockholders), which makes it a private company vs a government owned/controlled one.

All of the successful Sikh lawsuits (so far) have involved government employment/laws or schools, rather than private companies. Of course, things may change, and I again have no problem with that. But right now, there is no federal mandate forcing WDW to change its policy, but it may have to if this or a similar case gets far enough. (ie, Supreme Court) As was done in the past, which enacted Civil Rights laws, and the ADA.

Also, there were African-American cowboys way back when; movie producers and history books just ignored that fact.

 

[NASAMan]

snip
I would be interested to see whether the majority of the 'your choice etc' brigade, would like to raise objections to the Disney policy of allowing the US flag on costumes. Despite it detracting from the look and theme of the area. Other nationalities aren't allowed to have their flags on their costumes, yet Americans are.

Actually, international CMs can have their national flag placed on their nametag. US citizens were optionally allowed to wear a flag pin after the events on 9/11. While the flag nametags are still very prevalent, especially with international college program CMs and in Epcot, few Amercan flag pins are worn today.

also, i would be intrigued to know where Disney stands on skull caps being worn.

Every character performer wears a skull cap, but I don't think this is what you may be asking about.

Just like how NASA has the right to not hire aliens disguised as humans.
:lol:





:lookaroun

As long as they are here legally, there is no prob...
:lookaroun
um...nevermind!