German judge tells Muslim teacher to remove pink beret

Jun 29, 2007, 16:31 GMT

Dusseldorf - A Muslim teacher who replaced her head-scarf with a beret pulled down over her ears lost a lawsuit Friday against a German state which banned religious head-dress from public schools.

Presiding judge Heike Menche of a labour tribunal in the western city of Dusseldorf upheld a pre-dismissal warning issued to the woman, 35, who trains children in life skills at a city school.

The woman adopted the pink beret after North Rhine-Westphalia state followed the example of Turkey and France by outlawing head scarves in public schools, saying they were a sectarian symbol.

An estimated 3.2 million of the 82 million people in Germany have an Islamic heritage, mostly from Turkey.

The woman denied her beret was religious and said she wore it for cultural reasons, since she felt 'undressed' when bare-headed.

The judge said the state had a right to pass the law and it did not matter whether other staff and pupils felt comfortable with the head-wear or not. She said schoolchildren would perceive the beret as a substitute for the scarf and therefore as a religious symbol.

The beret was not worn the fashionable way, perched on the top of the head, but completely covered the trainer's hair.

The judge advised the woman to wear a wig if she wanted to cover up her own hair without defying the law, but the teacher refused.

Public officials said they now intended to sack the woman.

Lawyer Peter Voigt said she would appeal the case to a higher labour tribunal, since the woman had discarded her scarf: 'This pink beret is not religious and does not endanger neutrality of the public system.'