Islamic headscarves and other visible religious symbols under certain conditions have been banned at work place, the European Union’s top court ruled on Tuesday.
The ruling followed advisory opinions in two separate cases that appeared somewhat contradictory. In a case in May, Juliane Kokott, an advocate general with the court, issued an advisory opinion saying that a company could prohibit a Muslim employee from wearing a head scarf provided that the policy applied to all religious attire and did not single out Islam.
That opinion came after a complaint by Samira Achbita, a Muslim woman in Belgium, who was fired as a receptionist for the international security services company G4S after she insisted that she be allowed to wear a head scarf at work. Ms. Achbita sued the company, and the Belgian Court of Cessation asked the European Court of Justice for clarification about what European law required.
In a separate case, in July, Eleanor Sharpston, another advocate general with the European Court of Justice, issued an advisory opinion that a French company had engaged in unlawful discrimination when it dismissed a Muslim woman for wearing a head scarf when dealing with clients.
The woman, Asma Bougnaoui, lost her job at Micropole, an information technology consultancy, in 2009, after she refused to abide by the company’s request that she remove her head scarf when meeting with clients. Ms. Bougnaoui took her case to a French court, which referred it to the European Court of Justice.
In her advisory opinion, Ms. Sharpston said that the company’s decision to dismiss Ms. Bougnaoui had constituted “direct discrimination” based on religion or belief. Ms. Sharpston said there was no evidence to suggest that Ms. Bougnaoui had not been able to perform her job as a design engineer because she was wearing a head scarf.
The decisions of the European Court of Justice, which interprets the law for the 28-nation European Union, are binding on member states. Legal experts said the head scarves ruling could have far-reaching consequences for the balance between freedom of religion and the rights of companies across the bloc to put in place policies requiring religious neutrality.
The decision of the court though criticized by right groups is expected to have great consequences across especially at a time when most countries are grappling with accommodate huge influx of migrants mostly from Muslim countries which right-wing parties have seized on to boost support before elections in Netherlands, France and Germany.
