The Luxemburg-based European Court of Justice (ECJ), formally known as the Court of Justice, has ruled that if a private undertaking has an internal rule for banning the wearing of ‘any political, philosophical or religious sign’, this does not constitute ‘direct discrimination’.
The two separate cases were brought before the courts by two female employees Ms. Samira Achbita and Ms. Asma Bougnaoui in Belgium and France. They were dismissed from their jobs for refusal to give up their headscarves when carrying out their professional duties.
According to Press Release No 30/17 of Court of Justice of the European Union, the Court of Justice stated in Samira Achbita case, “…..the prohibition on wearing a headscarf, which arises from an internal rule of a private undertaking prohibiting the visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign in the workplace, does not constitute direct discrimination based on religious or belief.”
Briefly speaking, the separate two cases came before the courts in Belgium and France. Ms. Samira Achbita was employed as a receptionist by G4S Secure Solutions in Belgium in 2003. She was told that the wearing headscarf was contrary to the ‘position of neutrality’.
In 2006, the G4S works council adopted an amendment to the workplace regulations, which prohibits from wearing ‘any visible signs of political, philosophical or religious beliefs’ in the workplace. But Ms. Achbita insisted and subsequently, was dismissed in 2006.
In the other case, Ms. Asma Bougnaoui was employed as a design engineer at Micropole in France. On the complaint of a customer, Micropole asked Ms. Bougnaoui not to wear headscarf in future. But she objected and was subsequently fired. In the both cases, the two female employees challenged their dismissals in the court.
Amnesty International has criticized the ruling. The Director of Amnesty’s Europe and Central Asia programme, John Dalhuisen stated that ruling would provide ‘greater leeway to employers to discriminate against women – and men – on the grounds of religious belief.’
The civil society organizations have also expressed their disappointment over the ruling.
