France's top appeals court on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a Muslim woman who was fired from her job at a privately-run creche for refusing to remove her headscarf while at work, reports dpa.
The Court of Cassation ruled that Fatima Afif's dismissal from Baby-Loup creche in 2008 was justified under the creche's internal rules.
The rules of the creche, which is situated in the suburb of Chanteloup-les-Vignes, state that freedom of religion "cannot stand in the way of the principles of secularism and neutrality."
Wednesday's ruling by the Court of Cassation was its second on the case in as many years and reflects a sea change in its position.
In March 2013, the court had backed Afif, pointing out that a 2004 law banning the headscarf in state schools did not apply to private institutions and accusing the creche of religious discrimination.
The case was then sent back to Paris Court of Appeal, which rebelled against the Court of Cassation, saying that while religious freedom was a "fundamental principle" the creche had a right to make rules about how people working with children in a multicultural environment should behave.
On Monday, the Court of Cassation agreed with that assessment, saying the creche's restriction on Afif's freedom of religion was "justified by the nature of the work undertaken by the association's employees and proportional to its aims."
Secularism is a hot-button topic in France, which has the biggest Muslim population in western Europe.
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