Geox Store Manager Files Complaint After Refusing Veiled Temp Worker in Viral Video

New controversy over the veil in France. In a video posted on TikTok and viewed more than three million times on X, we see a young woman who was refused work in a Geox store in Strasbourg because of her veil. The exchanges between the store manager, who was on the phone, and the temporary worker who had come to work were tense. The store manager explained his refusal. "Her outfit doesn’t fit the store. She has a veil and doesn’t want to take it off. She tells me that it’s not normal, that it’s not written in the contract," affirms the manager. He will add: "Anyway, she tells me that she doesn’t intend to stay." "No, it’s not that I don’t intend to stay. You’re telling me to leave," replies the person concerned. She will add: "It’s because I have the veil, you have to say it, you have to use the words." The manager feels compelled to argue: "We’re in France, Madam, it’s in the law [...] I have a colleague who has a cross around her neck, she doesn’t wear it either." The young woman retorts: "On my contract, it’s not written that I can’t wear a veil." "You’re making me out to be something I’m not," laments the manager. The temporary worker leaves the store.

This video has sparked a lively controversy on social media. Some Internet users have supported the young woman who describes herself as a "new veiled woman", while others have threatened the store manager with death, accusing him of discrimination against a veiled woman. The Collective Against Islamophobia in Europe (CCIE) has denounced an "unacceptable discrimination". "Let’s mobilize to call on GEOX and condemn this unacceptable discrimination! It is necessary for GEOX to clarify its position in the face of this scandal. Does the company accept to be represented by people who openly discriminate?" launched the Brussels-based association. The far right and identitarian right have deplored the fact that the association has reported the video where the manager’s face is clearly visible.

Faced with the controversy, the store had to close for a day before reopening on Friday, reports RTL, adding that the manager has filed a complaint against the temporary worker, who is also a former employee of the store, for "invasion of privacy and recording of personal data" and "defamation, racial insults and malicious calls". And, the Strasbourg police station is conducting an investigation into this case, according to Le Figaro. For now, Geox has not publicly reacted to this controversy.