The ECJ has ruled on the cases of two female employees in Belgium and in France, fired after they refused to remove their headscarves at work.

In the first case, a Belgian woman working as a receptionist for G4S Secure Solutions, which has a general ban on the wearing of visible religious or political symbols, was dismissed for refusing to remove her religious attire. In the second, a French IT consultant was also let go when she refused to take off the headscarf after a client complained.

“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.

The ruling comes on the eve of the Dutch election, in which Muslim immigration has been a key issue.

Islamic headscarves are a contentious issue in several European countries, with numerous cases of alleged discrimination against Muslim women emerging in recent months.

In December, a 14-year-old Syrian teenager was reportedly kicked off a tram in Berlin for wearing a headscarf, after the driver shouted through a loudspeaker that he refused to transport her.

Earlier this month, Austrian government officials sharply criticized a recommendation by the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IGGO) which states that Muslim women must start wearing a headscarf from the onset of puberty, describing it as an attack on integration and women’s freedom.

Last month, a Muslim teacher who wasn’t hired by a Berlin school because she was wearing a headscarf was awarded €8,680 (US$9,250) in compensation for discrimination.

Meanwhile, a court in the Czech Republic threw out a similar case in January, in which a Somalian refugee claimed she had been barred from wearing her headscarf in a nursing school. The case was said to be the first of its kind in the EU.

https://www.rt.com/news/380627-eu-ruling-religious-symbols/#sthash.eKflaWU7.dpuf

The Muslim Times’ Chief Editor’s comments

We need to gently and rationally pursue secularism. One thing legislators need to recognize is that headscarf is not a Muslim symbol. Mother Mary’s picture is always in Hijab in artist’s imagination and Catholic women were required to have a head covering before entering a church. See the pictures below:

Mother Mary and Jesus in artist’s imagination. The Muslim Times has the best collection of articles about Hijab and modest dressing