Euro court endorses workplace religious ban

The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that companies may ban religious symbols in the workplace. The specific case applied to a Muslim woman who wished to wear a hijab, but the ruling now applies to any visible religious symbol. In the court’s words: “terms of employment which prohibits [sic] workers from manifesting, through words, through clothing, or in any other way, their religious or philosophical beliefs . . . does not constitute . . . direct discrimination.” ^[1]