THE TELEGRAPH: An air stewardess has been sacked after refusing her airline's demand to wear traditional Islamic dress and walk behind male colleagues in Saudi Arabia.
Lisa Ashton, who worked for BMI, was told that she was expected to wear the abaya, a long black robe that leaves only the face uncovered, when she was out in public in the Gulf state.
She was also told that she should walk behind male colleagues irrespective of their rank, in order to conform with the social codes of the conservative country.
Miss Ashton was instructed to consider the abaya as part of her uniform when flying to Saudi Arabia.
But she told her managers that she considered the requirement discriminatory, and was worried that Saudi Arabia was not safe to travel to because of the danger of terrorist attacks.
"It's not the law that you have to walk behind men in Saudi Arabia, or that you have to wear an abaya, and I'm not going to be treated as a second-class citizen," she said.
"It's outrageous. I'm a proud Englishwoman and I don't want these restrictions placed on myself." >>> By Duncan Gardham | Sunday, April 26, 2009
