Headscarf ban ruled legal by European court

The European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday that employers have the right to ban the wearing of Islamic headscarves in the workplace, on the basis of maintaining religious neutrality.

The ruling came about after two women, one French and one Belgian, were removed from their positions after their refusal to remove their headscarves.

The women took their cases to the ECJ, which ruled that such internal bans do not constitute "direct discrimination".

However, the ECJ also ruled that the ban cannot simply be introduced at the request of a customer, or solely apply to religious apparel from one faith.

"An internal rule of an undertaking which prohibits the visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign does not constitute direct discrimination," the court said in a statement.

"However, in the absence of such a rule, the willingness of an employer to take account of the wishes of a customer no longer to have the employer's services provided by a worker wearing an Islamic headscarf cannot be considered an occupational requirement that could rule out discrimination."

One of the cases involved Samira Achbita, who had been working as a receptionist for UK security firm G4S for three years before deciding she wanted to adopt a headscarf for religious purposes. She was dismissed in June 2006.

Asma Bougnaoui was sacked from French IT firm Micropole after customers complained about her wearing of a headscarf while she was giving advice on their premises.

Amnesty International said the rulings were "disappointing".

“At a time when identity and appearance has become a political battleground, people need more protection against prejudice, not less,” a spokesman said in a statement. “It is now for national governments to step up and protect the rights of their citizens.”

The Open Society Justice Initiative said the ruling "weakens the guarantee of equality" offered by EU non-discrimination laws.

"In many member states, national laws will still recognize that banning religious headscarves at work is discrimination," an OSJI's spokeswoman said. "But in places where national law is weak, this ruling will exclude many Muslim women from the workplace."