Germany / Labour Court Berlin / 55 Ca 2426/12

Country

Germany

Title

Germany / Labour Court Berlin / 55 Ca 2426/12

View full Case

Year

2012

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Incident(s) concerned/related

Discrimination

Related Bias motivation

Religion

Groups affected

Muslims

Court/Body type

National Court

Court/Body

Labour Court (Arbeitsgericht)

Key facts of the case

During a job interview for the position of dental assistant, a female Muslim interviewee was asked to refrain from wearing her headscarf during work as a condition for the job. She refused and received a rejection via email.

Main reasoning/argumentation

The petitioner was fully qualified for the job and was rejected only due to her refusal to wear a headscarf on the job. The court considered this clear discrimination on religious grounds.

Is the case related to the application of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the Racial Equality Directive?

Key issues (concepts, interpretations) clarified by the case

Exclusion from the pool of candidates only due to a refusal to not wear headscarf; the headscarf is a genuine expression of the petitioner's religiosity.

Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case

Payment of a compensation of 1.470€ by the employer to the rejected applicant (three monthly gross wages of the job offer).

Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details

"The scarf is no general clothing which may be subject to restrictions by the instructor on the grounds of workplace safety, aesthetics equal treatment or norms of working garment."
"The voluntary exclusion of persons confessing to and practicing the Muslim faith is a compelling unequal treatment due to religion."

"Dieses Kopftuch stellt nicht ein gewöhnliches Kleidungs- oder Schmuckstück dar, bei welchem der Ausbilder aus Gründen der Arbeitssicherheit, der Ästhetik, der Gleichbehandlung oder der Normsetzung im Rahmen einer Kleiderordnung das Ablegen begehren könnte."
"Der gewollte Ausschluss von Personen, die sich zum Islam bekennen und ihn auf ihre Art leben, stellt zwingend eine Andersbehandlung wegen der Religion dieser Personen dar."

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