PARIS: A Paris appeal court yesterday upheld the right of a nursery to fire a female employee who insisted on wearing an Islamic headscarf at work.
The ruling, which came as the European Court of Human Rights began deliberations on an unrelated challenge to France’s so-called burqa ban, is the latest round of a long-running legal battle which has pitted France’s secular authorities against sections of the country’s large Muslim minority.
In its ruling, the appeal court overturned a controversial March 2013 verdict that the “Baby-Wolf” kindergarten in the Paris suburbs had been guilty of religious discrimination when it dismissed Fatima Afif in 2008.
Afif was sacked after telling her employer that, on her return to work following a five-year maternity break, she wished to wear a headscarf at work.
The head of the day nursery refused, citing the establishment’s rules that employees had to be neutral in terms of philosophy, politics and faith. That led to a stand-off and Afif being made redundant.
Yesterday’s verdict supporting the nursery’s action was hailed as a landmark decision by supporters of secular education.
But it was denounced by Muslim organisations who see the emphasis put on secular principles as a way of singling out their community and it is unlikely to be the end of the case.
Lawyers for Afif, 44, said it was “very probable” that they would launch another appeal and she has said she is prepared to take her case all the way to the ECHR.
In a recent interview she said she felt emancipated by her decision to wear the veil whenever she was in public and insisted: “I am not the standard bearer for any cause, I’m only seeking justice.”
Afif’s lawyer Michel Henry said yesterday the judge had bowed to political pressure. “They decided the verdict they wanted then filled in the blanks,” he said. “They have invented a legal requirement, the freedom of conscience for very small children, for which there is no provision in law.”
AFP
