Denmark court affirms supermarket’s firing of Muslim woman

? A Danish grocery chain didn’t break any laws when it fired a young Muslim woman who wore her traditional head scarf at work, Denmark’s Supreme Court ruled.

The court’s decision last Friday confirmed previous rulings by lower courts, all of which said that Dansk Supermarked was within its rights to dismiss Najla Ainouz in 2001 for wearing the scarf. Her contract spelled out company policy that prohibits the wearing of headgear in areas where customers are present.

The Supreme Court said Ainouz, now 26, signed a work contract when she was employed by the chain and didn’t abide by the rules set forth in it.

“I believe it is a part of democracy to have a court settle such situations,” Ainouz said in a brief statement released by her union, HK.

Last year, Ainouz and HK sued after she was fired as a cashier at the Foetex supermarket in Copenhagen in 2001. They sought $17,300 in damages from the store, part of the Dansk Supermarked chain, the country’s second biggest retail group.

The union said the retail group discriminated against Ainouz because of her religion. But the store chain said its dress code is in place to keep workers from standing out.

“Foetex is a politically, religiously and culturally neutral company,” said Poul Guldborg, Dansk Supermarked spokesman. “The management and the employees have agreed that we want a neutral appearance for customers.”

About 149,000 people, or 2.8 percent of Denmark’s 5.4 million residents, are Muslim.