In its ruling yesterday (Tuesday, 14th March) the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said that workplace bans on the wearing of ‘any political, philosophical or religious sign’ such as headscarves need not constitute direct discrimination. However, companies cannot take steps to ban the headscarf in isolation and such prohibition must be part of wider company policy requiring all employees to demonstrate a neutral persona and cannot be based on the wishes of a customer.

Fired

The ruling came after the case where receptionist Samira Achbita was fired from security company G4S in Belguim in June 2006 when, after three years of employment, she began wearing a headscarf to work. She claimed she was being directly discriminated against on the grounds of her religion and Belgium's court of Cassation referred the case to the EU's top court for clarification.

'Unwritten rule'

At the time of Miss Achbita's hiring, an ‘unwritten rule’ had been in operation banning overt religious symbols, and the company subsequently went on to include this explicitly in its workplace regulations, the court explained. G4S's rules did not allow ‘any manifestation of such beliefs without distinction’, and were therefore not directly discriminatory, the court said.

Hot debate

The issue of Muslim dress has been a hotly debated issue over recent years across Europe with both Austria and the German state of Bavaria recently announcing bans on full-face veils in public spaces. Rights group Amnesty International said the ruling was ‘disappointing’ and ‘opened a backdoor to... prejudice’.