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Fun park turns down headscarf woman

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Fun park turns down headscarf woman

An amusement park in Gothenburg found itself in a tough spot earlier this year after it did not hire a 21-year-old Iraq-born woman because she wore a head scarf, it has emerged after the woman spoke to the press.

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Duaa Daebes was among some 6,000 applicants vying for a job at the Liseberg park in January. After being called in for a second interview, she was told that while she was qualified for the work, she would not be hired because her head scarf conflicted with the park’s dress policy.

“I felt really, really hurt,” she said in Göteborgs Posten on Friday. “It felt like he was sitting there and tried to come up with other reasons why couldn’t get the job, but the only thing he came up with was my head scarf.”

She went home and called the government discrimination ombudsman (DO) and told them what happened. The DO sent Liseberg a copy of the complaint.

“”He said the clothing policy would be changed so that it would be alright to wear a head scarf because of religious reasons and that I could have a job,” Daebes said. “I also was to get 15,000 kronor as compensation for the insult.”

Lasse Zagai, Liseberg spokesman, said the park’s uniform policy has been changed for the better. The park is even providing a long-armed shirt and a head scarf in Liseberg colors.

“It was incredibly dumb of us to not employ someone because of certain clothing,” he said.

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