German Mayor Fires Intern in First Day to Work Over Hijab

BERLIN – The mayor of the town Luckenwalde, in the German northern state of Brandeburg, has been facing huge criticism for firing a Palestinian intern, hired in a refugee project, on her first working day for refusing to take off her hijab.

“There is no legal basis for this decision,” representative from the state parliament and Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU party, Sven Petke said, TheLocal.de reported on Thursday, August 25.

“It is something different than a crucifix on the wall.”

Petke added that the German Constitutional Court had ruled that personal beliefs and their connection to certain items of clothing should not be objectionable.

Mayor Elisabeth Herzog-von der Heide of Luckenwalde fired an intern after one day because she would not take off her headscarf.

“The Islamic headscarf is a means of expressing a religious worldview,” Herzog-von der Heide said on Wednesday.

The mayor claimed that wearing a headscarf would violate the neutrality of the town hall, where crucifixes are also not allowed.

The Palestinian woman, 48, was hired for a project called “Perspectives for Refugees” and was set to work for six weeks.

Wearing a headscarf to work, especially in legal or public sector work, has been hotly debated in recent years across Germany

Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled last year that blanket bans on teachers wearing headscarves were “constitutionally limiting”.

A young lawyer in Bavaria won a victory at the end of June when the court sided with her that she would be able to wear a headscarf while performing legal duties. The judge stated that there was no legal grounds for denying her religious and educational freedom.

But more recently two major judges associations have said that they are in favor of banning headscarves in court.

The case of the intern in Luckenwalde also comes as Germany is currently considering a ban on the burqa in certain places amid concerns about integration.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said last week that he would be in favor of a partial ban on the full-body veil.