A New EU ruling makes it legal for companies to ban employees from wearing hijabs in the workplace

Advocates are enraged at a new EU ruling that makes it legal for companies to ban their employees from wearing headscarves and other religious garb.

Under the ruling by the European Court of Justice, private companies can legally prohibit any "political, philosophical or religious sign" and not be considered discriminatory.

The decision "seriously undermines the right to equality and non-discrimination," the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), a human rights advocacy group, said in a statement on Tuesday.

"This is an extremely worrying decision because it effectively bars Muslim women wearing the headscarf from the workplace," Amel Yacef, ENAR's chairperson, said. "This is nothing short of a Muslim ban applied only to women in private employment, just because of how they choose to dress according their religion."

The ruling was prompted by two separate cases in Belgium and France, in which private companies dismissed their female employees for wearing a hijab. In 2006, G4S Security Services, a private company in Belgium, terminated their receptionist, Samira Achbita, a Muslim woman who had been employed since 2003, after she began wearing a veil.

In 2009, French company Micropole similarly fired Asma Bougnaoui, who had worked as a design engineer since 2008, after a customer complained about her hijab. The company asked her not to wear it in the future, as respect to their policy of "neutrality." Bougnaoui refused and was then let go.

The Court's ruling notes that any headscarf or similar ban needs to be part of a company-wide rule regulating dress for everyone. It cannot be done case-by-case, based on the complaint of a customer.

The judgement will force people whose religious observance includes outer garments — Sikhs who wear turbans or Jews who kippahs — to choose between religious expression and the labor market, ENAR said. The advocacy network called the decision "a license to discriminate."

Together, ENAR and Amnesty International submitted to the Court that these companies' dismissal of their employees constitutes religious discrimination.

"Today's disappointing rulings by the European Court of Justice give greater leeway to employers to discriminate against women — and men — on the grounds of religious belief," John Dalhuisen, Director of Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia program said in a statement. "At a time when identity and appearance has become a political battleground, people need more protection against prejudice, not less."

The post Advocates Denounce EU's Workplace Headscarf Ruling appeared first on Vocativ.