La Cour de Cassation, France's highest court, has confirmed that a daycare centre in the Parisian suburb of Chanteloup-les-Vignes had the right to dismiss an employee who refused to remove an Islamic veil. The case that has gripped France for six years began Fatima Afif, a worker at the Baby-Loup day-care center refused to remove her headcovering. Walt can't tell from the report whether it was a hijab or niqab...surely not a burqa... Whatever it was, she wouldn't take it off, and was shown the door.
Ms Afif sued in 2010, and lost, sued again in 2011, and lost, and appealed, and lost again, as the court upheld the separation between church and state mandated by the French constitution. In its judgment, the court said "A private entity, in this case an association, can place limits on its employees' freedom to express their religious beliefs in the workplace.... Children must not be confronted with ostentatious demonstrations of religious identity."
Ms Afif's lawyer, Michel Henry, called the ruling "disappointing" and said his client will take her case to... wait for it... the European Court of Human Rights.
Walt wonders how the supreme courts of the United States, Canada or Britain -- always so mindful of "minority rights" -- would have ruled on this case. Our legal beagle, Agent 3, will be watching!
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