A former Walt Disney World employee is suing the company, saying that she was racially discriminated against by white employees, who criticized her hair and high heels.
Monica Shaw worked as a contract administrator from late 2012 to February 2014 and claims that she followed Disney’s dress code, a policy known as the “Disney Look.” She alleges that she asked supervisors why she was being treated differently than coworkers and was given no warning of her termination. She says she was told “it is nothing you have done wrong.”
Shaw says an executive claims she was not following the dress code, wearing what they called “spiked pumps,” though Shaw says they fell within the guidelines. The lawsuit says, “My non-black coworkers were never complained of, chastised not embarrassed for wearing clothing that complied with Disney’s Look Book.”
Marilyn Waters, a company spokeswoman, said, “We have not been formally served with the lawsuit and will respond to the allegations in court, once served.”
Disney’s official dress policy states that the Disney Look “is a classic look that is clean, natural, polished and professional, and avoids ‘cutting edge’ trends or extreme styles.” Female cast members’ “hair should be neatly combed and arranged in a classic, easy-to-maintain style. Extreme styles are not permitted.”
Shaw’s job duties were to make copies, answer the phone and escort guests. In the suit, she also says that her cubicle was smaller than that of white cast members and she didn’t have a printer, though printing was part of her job duties. She says her white coworkers “asked her if she ate chitterlings, made jokes about African bees and asked her if a roach crawled in her ear when she was absent for an ear infection.”
According to the Orlando Sentinel, she “filed a grievance with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and received a notice of right to sue dated Nov. 7, where the EEOC stated that it was unable to conclude that there were violations of federal law.”
News/photo source: Orlando Sentinel
