Blog: Wearing the veil at work: Achbita and Bougnaoui – Can a duty to reasonable accommodation be derived from the EU concept of indirect discrimination?

The Islamic headscarf issue has finally reached the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) through two preliminary references, Achbita and Bougnaoui, issued by Belgian and French courts, respectively in 2015.

This is the first time that the CJEU has been asked about religious discrimination under Directive 2000/78 (the 'employment equality' Directive). In addition, these are the first two cases where the CJEU is confronted with the issue of whether restricting the use of the Islamic headscarf at work can amount to religious discrimination. In contrast, several national jurisdictions and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) (see eg Ebrahimian v France) have already dealt with this matter.

This thus is an excellent opportunity for the CJEU to position itself as regards the ECtHR’s case law on religious dress and to clarify how the employment equality Directive should be interpreted in religious discrimination instances. Indeed, both cases have been assigned to the Grand Chamber, which signposts their potential importance. The hearings were scheduled for the 15 March 2016.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: The Dutch debate the burqa — and ban it http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-dutch-debate-the-burqa-and-ban-it/

ESO: Background information: European rights court upholds French 'burqa ban' http://www.europeansources.info/record/european-rights-court-upholds-french-burqa-ban/

---