The Muslim man applied to be a security guard at the Swedish capital’s transport company, where he was invited for a job interview. However, when she told the employer before the interview that equal treatment of women was out of the question because of her faith, the interview was cancelled – writes the Swedish news portal Samnytt, he invited her the attention the international news agency V4NA.
However, the man felt that this was discrimination and complained to the Discrimination Ombudsman (DO). And the authorities sided with the man.
The company is criticized in a statement. As they write, the company made a mistake when they did not invite the man to a job interview. In his complaint, the man argued that it should not be considered a problem that he looks down on women for religious reasons, as he does not have to shake hands with a woman in the course of his work.
However, the Stockholm public transport company took a different view, saying that such situations could indeed occur with a security guard, and that it was indeed a problem and a violation of the company’s policy of neutrality to view women as inferior beings at all.
However, according to the discrimination ombudsman, if misogyny can be traced back to Muslim religious beliefs, then it should be allowed. This is how the DO justified it in its decision decision:
Touching is something that not all people are comfortable with, and there is no particular reason to stick to handshakes, as there are other ways of respectful greeting that do not involve physical touch.
Information available on the DO website does not reveal whether the company had to pay compensation to the Muslim man.
It is discrimination if they do not make an exception for Muslims
Sweden’s discrimination ombudsman made headlines last year after a Muslim woman approached them. The woman applied for a job at a staffing agency that recruited staff for an airline. The company has uniform rules, which include, among other things religious clothing is prohibited and other such conspicuous symbols.
On the first day of the training, the woman refused to follow the rules and left the veil on herself, so she was told to either respect the rules like the other participants of the course or leave the training.
However, the woman then went to the Discrimination Ombudsman (DO) and sued the airline, alleging that it discriminated against her by not making an exception in the policy specifically for the Muslim headscarf.
Although the same rules apply to all religions, faiths and political ideologies, the DO believed that Muslim women would be discriminated against if no special exception was made for this group. DO believes that by rejecting the garment, the company is not promoting gender equality, but is engaging in gender discrimination.
The uniform decree banning religious symbols has a particularly negative effect on Muslim women who wear the veil for religious reasons. During the weighing of interests, equality in the labor market and the religious freedom of the individual must therefore be contrasted with the interests of the employer, and in such a weighing, equality and religious freedom must be given a very high weight
– said discrimination ombudsman Lars Arrheniusand asked the court to order the airline to pay the Muslim woman SEK 150,000 in discrimination damages.
Source: magyarnemzet.hu
