On 31 May, Attorney General Kokott gave her opinion in a long-standing dispute which is headed to a final determination by the European Courts of Justice. To summarise the facts: Ms Achbita, who is of Muslim faith, wished to wear a religious headscarf at work. G4S dismissed her because of its policy which prevents the wearing of any religious, political and philosophical symbols at work. The Belgian courts referred the matter to the ECJ seeking clarification on the application of EU discrimination law on the grounds of religion or belief in these circumstances.
The A-G has opined that there is no direct discrimination where there is a general ban in the workplace from wearing such symbols, so long as the ban does not treat one or more religion or religious belief any less favourably than another and the ban is not based on religious stereotypes or prejudices. While the A-G accepted that there is an argument of indirect discrimination, she felt that this could be justified if the employer has a legitimate policy of ensuring religious and ideological neutrality. As to the question of proportionality, the A-G stated that this will ultimately be a decision for the Belgian courts taking into account all the circumstances of the case. However, she believed that the ban would not unduly prejudice the legitimate interests of the female employees concerned and so the ban is proportionate.
This decision points towards employers being permitted to prevent their employees wearing religious, political and philosophical symbols at work, if they have a valid policy of ensuring religious and ideological neutrality and this policy is applied consistently regardless of the employee's faith. However, we would always advise caution before adopting any such policy as this is an area of law that is fraught with difficulty. We must also remember that this is only the A-G's opinion, but the ECJ usually follows this opinion when making its final decision.
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