European court backs French woman sacked for wearing hijab

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

European court backs French woman sacked for wearing hijab

Asma Bougnaoui, who lost her job at an IT consultancy, should
have been allowed to wear headscarf, says EU court advocate

Angelique Chrisafis in Paris and Owen Bowcott Legal affairs correspondent
Wednesday 13 July 2016 12.39 BST

A French design engineer who was dismissed for wearing an Islamic headscarf should have been allowed to cover her head at work, the European Union’s highest court has recommended.

In an influential preliminary opinion, an advocate general at the European court of justice found in favour of Asma Bougnaoui who lost her job with Micropole SA, a French IT consultancy, in June 2009.

The court has advised that the Muslim woman’s dismissal amounted to discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief.

Bougnaoui, who had worked for Micropole for a year, was fired without prior warning. After she had travelled to a meeting with clients at a big French insurance firm in Toulouse, the insurance firm complained to her superiors that her headscarf had “embarrassed” some of its staff working with her. The insurance company also demanded “no headscarf next time”.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/13/european-court-backs-french-women-sacked-hijab-asma-bougnaoui

[rug]

1. A good decision.

http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf;jsessionid=9ea7d0f130d55295a92835174012a5c9c2af60de50e5.e34KaxiLc3eQc40LaxqMbN4Pa3aSe0?text=&docid=181584&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=654286

[Warpy]

2. I agree with the court, she shouldn't have been fired

The hijab is not a safety hazard. If xenophobes are made uncomfortable by it, that's their problem, not hers.

Some Islamic clothing for women is a safety hazard, the full body shrouds and face coverings of any type. The shrouds get caught in things and the face covering reduces the woman's visibility.

The hijab? It's a way for a Muslim woman to show her devotion in a western country without endangering her own safety or the operation of machinery.