Thread by @MehreenKhn

The EU's highest court has today again upheld the right of employers to sack Muslim women from their jobs for wearing the headscarf if justified by notion of "neutrality". The ECJ also seems to admit that this is a form of discrimination 🤷‍♀️

Today's ECJ ruling on the hijab is latest in a string upholding companies rights to not employ Muslim women if they think it's bad for their business. ECJ suggests that if customers or clients of a company say they don't want to see Muslim women in such jobs, that is also fine.

EU's legal order given carte blanche to private businesses to adopt racist hiring practices. Hijab is apparently an exception to otherwise robust anti-discrimination law. The decision is being openly celebrated by Islamophobic far right politicians 👇

https://twitter.com/FranckenTheo/status/1415587058031157254?s=19

ECJ rulings on hijab have been heavily criticised since '17. Judges seem unable to understand what some garments mean for adherents of non-Christian faiths. Instead, they use neutrality argument that apes the sophisticated racism of Europe's far right, liberals and progressives

No court operates in isolation from politics. Muslim women are subject to hostile environment policies in the EU. France and Belgium have led assault against removing women from public life if you can't see their hair. The ECJ today has again given companies right to do the same

Excellent thread from Martijn. The ECJ has tied itself in knots - but ultimately still giving legal ballast to an exclusionary and racist notion of "neutrality" that is commonplace in EU political discourse

https://twitter.com/Martijn_vdBrink/status/1415642757935271938?s=19

An interesting piece on the tensions between Germany's constitutional protections for religious minorities and an ECJ judgement which allows German employers to impose French style neutrality policies against German citizens who believe in God

https://twitter.com/W_Janisch/status/1415642921014120451?s=19