Case thought to be first of its kind since ECJ ruled on companies’ right to ban religious clothing
A Muslim estate agent is suing her former employer, claiming she was asked not to wear her black hijab because of “terrorist affiliations”.
The female employee had worked at Harvey Dean in Bury for almost a year when managers “took issue” with her headscarf when she was moved from a back-of-house position to a public-facing role, the Independent reported.
She was allegedly told “it would be in the best interest of the business for her to change the colour of her hijab, because of the supposed terrorist affiliation with the colour black”, and that customers might feel “intimidated and scared”. She has now filed a claim for religious discrimination and harassment at Manchester Employment Tribunal.
Zillur Rahman, an employment lawyer at Rahman Lowe Solicitors who is representing the claimant, believes the claim is the first case of its kind since the European Court of Justice ruled this March that employers are legally entitled to ban religious attire, such as the Islamic headscarf, but only as part of company-wide rules banning other religious and political symbols.
That case, which was referred from Belgium, involved a Muslim secretary who worked for security firm G4S and was subsequently dismissed in 2006 after refusing to remove her religious headscarf. The company said the wearing of a religious garment was against its dress code.
However, the estate agent in this case alleged that there was no policy in place banning all forms of religious attire, and that male Muslim employees were allowed to have beards. Meanwhile, she claimed that the staff handbook stated that “it does not seek to inhibit individual choice as regards appearance”, causing her to feel “singled out”.
She also alleged that she was invited to a meeting with a male manager who had brought coloured hijabs with him for her to change into. The claimant refused to change her hijab and was later reprimanded for sending a text message to her father when she said she was on her lunch break.
“He [the manager] then went on a tirade accusing the claimant of not working,” read tribunal documents seen by the Independent. “The claimant informed him that she was on her lunch break but he told her that he did not care [and] then proceeded to tell her to: ‘Get the fuck out of here.’”
The woman left the office and after hearing nothing from the company submitted a resignation letter the following week. She is seeking a written admission that she was subjected to unlawful discrimination.
In a statement on its website, Rahman Lowe Solicitors said its client had been “harassed and subjected to a tirade of abuse for wearing a headscarf at work”.
A preliminary hearing is due to take place on 20 July.
Harvey Dean could not be reached for comment.
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