EU top court rules hijab can be banned for employees if part of general curbs

New Delhi: Amid violent month-long protests in Iran and the raging controversy surrounding the hijab ban in educational institutions of Karnataka, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Thursday ruled that EU companies can ban hijabs if it is part of a general restriction on all headgear.

In its ruling, the EU top court pointed out that a general ban on headgear of all kinds is not discriminatory against employees on religious grounds and was not in violation of any of the European Union laws.

The case came up for hearing in the Court of Justice of the European Union after a Muslim woman was told that she could not wear a hijab when she applied for a six-week work traineeship at a company in Belgium, according to a Reuters report.

The company said it had a neutrality rule which meant head coverings of any kind — hats, caps, or headscarves — were not allowed in the organisation.

Initially, a Belgian court referred the case to the EU top court for more clarity on laws that govern workplaces in the European Union.

The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that a general ban on headgear (in workplaces or otherwise) does not break EU law. It is now upto the Belgian court to decide whether the ban on headgear of all kinds reflects indirect discrimination.

In an earlier judgement, the CJEU in 2021 had said that EU companies could ban employees from wearing a headscarf if they needed to project an image of neutrality.

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