Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston has published her opinion in Bougnaoui and ADDH [2016] CJEU C-188/15, a reference from France about an employee who wore a hijab at work [31], was told by her employer to remove it while visiting a client after the client’s staff complained about her appearance and was dismissed after she refused to do so. In the course of the subsequent proceedings for unfair dismissal, the Cour de Cassation referred the following question to the Court of Justice under Article 267 TFEU:

“Must Article 4(1) of [Directive 2000/78] be interpreted as meaning that the wish of a customer of an information technology consulting company no longer to have the information technology services of that company provided by an employee, a design engineer, wearing an Islamic headscarf, is a genuine and determining occupational requirement, by reason of the nature of the particular occupational activities concerned or of the context in which they are carried out?” [26]. Continue reading →