European Court of
Justice Follow
Judge
at EU’s top court backs workplace ban on headscarf
Non-binding
opinion upholds restriction as long as it applies to all symbols of
religion
YESTERDAY by: Duncan
Robinson in Brussels
Companies can ban
Muslim staff from wearing headscarves as long as they also forbid
other symbols of religion in the workplace, according to an opinion
from the European Court of Justice.
The case stemmed
from a complaint by a Muslim woman fired as a receptionist by the
Belgian division of G4S for wearing a headscarf to work against the
company’s rules.
Samira Achbita sued
the security company in Belgium, where the courts referred the
question of whether such bans were legal under EU rules to the ECJ.
In a non-binding
opinion on Tuesday, a senior judge from the court argued that such
bans were justifiable under certain circumstances. A final judgment
will come later this year.
The case is the
first of two landmark decisions expected this year on whether such
bans are allowed under the bloc’s rules. It underlines the growing
role played by the Luxembourg-based ECJ.
Once the preserve of
arcane trade disputes and competition cases, the court rules
increasingly on social issues after its remit was expanded by the
Lisbon Treaty in 2009 to give it oversight of issues such as security
and fundamental rights. Unlike the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg, decisions from the ECJ are binding upon national
governments.
The ECJ is
considering a separate case involving a French IT engineer dismissed
after she refused to take off a veil at the request of a client.
Juliane Kokott, the
advocate-general at the ECJ who wrote the opinion on the Belgian
case, said: “While an employee cannot ‘leave’ his sex, skin
colour, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age or disability ‘at the
door’ upon entering his employer’s premises, he may be expected
to moderate the exercise of his religion in the workplace.”
Although such
opinions do not amount to a final verdict, they are often followed by
the court in its judgment.
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According to the
opinion, companies must have a legitimate reason for banning symbols
of religion, but these can vary. “The bar set for justifying
differences of treatment based on religion is high but not
insurmountable,” said the judge.
Companies such as
G4S should be able to ensure “religious and ideological
neutrality”, she wrote. Other reasons for banning religious symbols
could include hygiene considerations as well as whether staff came
face to face with customers. Banning headscarves in a call-centre
would not be appropriate, argued the judge.
Such a prohibition
would not be able to target specific religions, according to the
opinion, and must apply across the board.
But in general, what
counted as a necessary or legitimate ban on symbols of religion
should be a matter for national courts, the advocate-general argued.
A country’s “national identity” should be taken into account
when determining whether bans on headscarves broke EU rules, which
would give some countries more leeway than others.
For instance,
countries such as France, which has a constitutional commitment to
secularism, may be able to enforce stricter rules on banning
religious items than other member states, without falling foul of EU
rules, according to the opinion.
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