Woman allowed to wear hijab at Disneyland

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ANAHEIM, Calif., Sept. 30 (UPI) -- A Chicago-area woman recruited for an internship at Disneyland says she has been told she can wear a Muslim headscarf, but only one designed by Disney.

Noor Abdallah, 22, a student at the University of Illinois, said she was first put to work in a stockroom out of sight of the public, the Chicago Tribune reported. Abdallah said she had dreamed of working at Disney since watching movies like "The Little Mermaid" as a child.

"It broke my heart a little," she said of her assignment.

This week, the company agreed she can wear a headscarf with the blue Disney beret on top. Abdallah said her internship may be over before the headscarf is ready.

"Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has a long history of accommodating a variety of religious requests from cast members of all faiths, with more than 200 accommodations made over the last three years," a company spokeswoman, Suzi Brown, said.

But a lawyer for the Council of American-Islamic Relations says Disney has been involved in at least four disputes this year with female Muslim employees.