Muslim Couple Sues After Getting Booted From Luna Park
A Bensonhurst couple is suing Coney Island’s Luna Park saying its employees failed to accommodate a religious request and then assailed them with racial slurs before booting them from the park.
According to the lawsuit, Asmaa Abdalla and husband Ibrahim Hamed — who are Muslim — say they were enjoying a fun day in Coney Island on July 30, 2014, when they tried to board the Lazy River and Abdalla requested that she not be seated next to an adult man due to her religious beliefs, reports DNAinfo.
Amusement operators denied her request, allegedly telling the couple they could “get off if they didn’t like it,” according to the lawsuit filed last week in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
Abdalla decided to stay on the boat, because other passengers had already begun to board, but after the ride, she complained to a supervisor, who offered the pair a free ride in their own boat.
Then things took an ugly turn, reports DNAinfo:
But the racist rants started when the couple finished their second go-round on the “Wild River” and separated to go on different Luna Park rides, the lawsuit says.
When Abdalla again requested not to sit next to an adult male at another ride, the operator refused and wouldn’t let her get on.
“At this point, park employees, including the ride attendant from ‘Wild River,’ became hostile, surrounded Asmaa Abdalla and began yelling racial slurs at her, including calling her a ‘terrorist b—-,'” the lawsuit says.
Hamed saw what was happening and came to Abdalla’s aid, leading her away from the crowd, but park workers followed them and told them to leave the park, according to the lawsuit. When the couple initially refused, one ride operator assaulted Hamed and tried to yank his park bracelet off his wrist, the suit alleges.
When the pair then tried to leave the park, the employee struck Hamed in the face “causing severe physical injury,” according to the suit.
An amusement park spokesperson denied the allegations. “We have a company-wide commitment to accommodate guests of all religious beliefs,” Luna Park’s Angie Morris told the outlet.
