Chapter 4: Muslim (Migrant) Women Wearing the Headscarf in the Workplaces: Does the 2021 WABE and MH Judgment of the EU Court of Justice Promote Equal Treatment in (Private) Employment and Occupation?

The chapter analyses the judgment issued by the EU Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) on July 15th 2021, related to the cases WABE, C804/18 and MH Müller Handels, C341/19, following the requests by two German Courts for a preliminary ruling concerning Muslim women who wear headscarves in their workplaces.

The EUCJ determined the conditions under which an internal rule of a company/organization prohibiting workers from wearing any visible sign of political, philosophical or religious beliefs in the workplace, does not constitute direct discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief under EU law. The Author discusses about the application of the “neutrality rule” in private workplaces and the deep impact that this decision may have on Muslim women wearing a headscarf. In this judgment the requests for a preliminary ruling lodged by the two German Courts considered only the violation of the EU legislation dealing with discrimination on the grounds of religion. In the future, it is possible that the EUCJ will come to a different end by considering the legislation preventing discrimination on the grounds of gender which falls also under EU labor law.