Elior-Derichebourg: Female Employees Fired for Wearing the Veil
Catering giant Elior-Derichebourg is accused of dismissing employees wearing headscarves. This case reignites the debate over strict enforcement of religious neutrality rules in private companies.
Several women claim they were ordered to remove their headscarves, facing dismissal for gross misconduct if they refused. According to an investigation published Monday by Mediapart, some of these employees had actually been hired while wearing the garment. The complainants denounce sudden procedures and a complete lack of warning. Facing this situation, one of the victims testifies: "We are a minority, a community that can be fired, as if it were normal."
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To defend itself, management cites routine individual procedures designed to enforce workplace neutrality. The company explains that it recently modified its internal regulations to prohibit visible religious symbols among employees in direct contact with customers. It justifies this rule by the nature of its work locations, particularly schools and administrative facilities, and claims to have informed its teams of this change.
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The legal validity of these sanctions remains contested, however. A labor law specialist indicates that such measures risk being classified as indirect discrimination and raising proportionality concerns. The case is sensitive for this industry heavyweight, created in 2023 from the merger of Elior and Derichebourg Multiservices, which employs 77,000 people in France and over 130,000 worldwide.
