Fashion Retailer Fined €10,000 for Religious Discrimination Against Veiled Employee

The company that employed Narimène, a young woman of Maghrebi origin, demanded that she remove the veil she had started wearing upon returning from parental leave. She refused. A few days later, she was fired.

According to lepoint.fr, the dismissal of the employee was unfortunately validated by the Toulouse Labor Court, which considered that Narimène had not been the subject of any discriminatory intent. The young woman will appeal the decision.

To settle the matter, the Toulouse Court of Appeal recalled the principle of secularism, noting that the company, also based in the Middle East and Arab countries, provides in its internal regulations that the employee must represent "Camaïeu by his look (clothing, hairstyle, makeup)".

In this regard, the judges pointed out to the employer that no principle of neutrality is included in the company’s internal texts. Based on this finding, the magistrates considered that the young woman had indeed been the subject of "discrimination based on religious beliefs". Camaïeu was therefore ordered to pay her the sum of 10,000 euros, concludes the same source.