Berlin is subject to the dispute over headscarves for teachers

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Because of her headscarf, a teacher was not employed in the Berlin school service (symbol picture)

In Berlin, the Neutrality Act forbids female teachers to wear a headscarf - but the Federal Labor Court believes that this blanket prohibition violates the constitution. According to a spokeswoman, the court rejected the revision of the state of Berlin against a judgment of the state labor court.

The state labor court had awarded a Muslim teacher around 5159 euros in compensation in November 2018 because she was not employed in school because of her headscarf. In the interview, it was also about her headscarf from the start.

The Federal Labor Court decided that the woman was discriminated against because of her religion.

Paragraph 2 in the Neutrality Act, which forbids educators at general schools in Berlin not only to wear a headscarf, but also to wear other religious clothing and symbols such as the cross or kippa, must be designed in accordance with the constitution.

Court: School peace must be specifically endangered

According to the judges, a general, preventive ban on maintaining school peace is not legal, said the spokeswoman. Rather, there should be concrete indications that the school peace is at risk. The previous regulation violates the religious freedom of teachers.

Most recently, the neutrality law had sparked controversial debates within the red-red-green coalition in Berlin. While Education Senator Sandra Scheeres (SPD) considered the law to be constitutional and appropriate, Justice Senator Dirk Behrendt (Greens) took the opposite view.

Again and again, courts are concerned with whether teachers are allowed to wear a headscarf. Sometimes they allow it, sometimes they don't. Here you can read why this is so.

The Federal Constitutional Court had overturned a blanket headscarf ban in schools three years ago and emphasized the importance of religious freedom. Since then, every federal state has developed different regulations on how to deal with Muslim teachers in schools who wear headscarves.

kko / dpa