Europe's top court has ruled that employers can ban staff from wearing a headscarf. 
 
 The European Court of Justice ruled Tuesday on a case concerning two Muslim women who were fired for refusing to remove their headscarves. 
 
 The court said companies should be able to ban the wearing of any visible political, philosophical or religious signs. A ban on headscarves did not constitute direct discrimination, as long as a general ban on other symbols was in place, it said. 
 
 The case was heard by the grand chamber of 15 judges at the court in Luxembourg. It ruled that companies may have a legitimate right to want to appear neutral in front of their customers, and could therefore ask their staff to dress neutrally. 
 
 Headscarves could not be banned, however, in response to a request from a customer, it added. 
 
 In the first case of its kind, the court touched on an issue that has become a flashpoint across Europe. Debates about Muslim immigration and integration have dominated election campaigns in France and the Netherlands. 
 
 Nike has a new product for Muslim women: The 'Pro Hijab' 
 
 The Muslim women -- a receptionist working at security firm G4S in Belgium and a consultant at Micropole in France -- had taken their cases to national courts, who then referred the matter to the ECJ. 
 
 CCIF, a French organization that campaigns against Islamophobia, said the court's decision "condemns Muslim women to an economical and social death." 
 
 "This decision is not based on a logic of promoting fundamental rights, but rather on the tensions running through certain parts of European societies," it said in a statement. 
 
 Related: U.S. does $220 billion in trade with Muslim countries 
 
 G4S is one of the biggest private sector employers in the world, with more than 600,000 workers around the world. 
 
 The company said its policies in Belgium are supported by employee representatives and have been upheld in the Belgian courts. 
 
 "There is a long-standing custom in Belgium for organizations with diverse workforces to apply a policy of religious and political neutrality, especially where the organization has staff who have contact with the public," G4S said in a statement. 
 
 It said it applies different rules across different countries, depending on local customs. 
 
 "In many countries such as the U.K. where there is no strong tradition of religious and political neutrality, G4S permits the wearing of religious dress such as Islamic headscarves." 
 
 -- CNN's Maud Le Rest in Paris and Sebastian Shukla in Brussels contributed reporting. 
 
 Editor's note: Are you affected by today's ruling? You can WhatsApp us on +1347-322-0415. ||||| The European Court of Justice has ruled that companies can ban employees from wearing the Islamic headscarf, but only as part of prohibitions including other religious and political symbols. 
 
 It is the first case of its kind amid a series of legal disputes over the right for Muslim women to wear the hijab at work. 
 
 “An internal rule of an undertaking which prohibits the visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign does not constitute direct discrimination,” the court said in a statement. 
 
 “However, in the absence of such a rule, the willingness of an employer to take account of the wishes of a customer no longer to have the employer's services provided by a worker wearing an Islamic headscarf cannot be considered an occupational requirement that could rule out discrimination.” 
 
 The Luxembourg-based court found that a headscarf ban may also constitute “indirect discrimination” if people adhering to a particular religion or belief, such as Muslims, are put at a particular disadvantage. 
 
 But indirect discrimination is permissible if it is “objectively justified by a legitimate aim”, such as a company's policy of neutrality, provided that the means of achieving it are appropriate and necessary. 
 
 François Fillon, the conservative candidate in the French presidential election, hailed the ruling as “an immense relief” that would contribute to “social peace”. 
 
 But a campaign group backing the women said it could shut many Muslim women out of the workforce and European rabbis said the court had worsened rising hate crime by sending a message that “faith communities are no longer welcome”. 
 
 The president of the Conference of European Rabbis, Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, said: “This decision sends a signal to all religious groups in Europe.” 
 
 The United Sikhs advocacy group said the “disturbing” ruling allowed employers to override fundamental human rights. 
 
 Theresa May backs Muslim women's right to wear a headscarf 
 
 Mejindarpal Kaur, the group's international legal director, said that although the ECJ only allowed for rules with “legitimate aims”, “we fear that employers will treat it as a licence to discriminate at the point of hire”. 
 
 Amnesty International welcomed the ruling on the French case that “employers are not at liberty to pander to the prejudices of their clients” but said bans on religious symbols opened “a backdoor to precisely such prejudice”. 
 
 Two employees in Belgium and France had brought the case to the ECJ after being dismissed for refusing to remove their headscarves, which did not cover the face. 
 
 The Belgian woman had been working as a receptionist for G4S Secure Solutions, which has a general ban on wearing visible religious or political symbols, while the French claimant is an IT consultant who was told to remove her headscarf after a client complained. 
 
 The G4S dispute, which started in 2006, was originally based on an “unwritten rule” banning employees wearing signs of their political, philosophical or religious beliefs, and the company’s workplace regulations were not updated until a day after the woman started wearing a hijab. 
 
 Although they apply to all beliefs, the ECJ said it was “not inconceivable” that such rules could be deemed indirect discrimination for targeting Islam over other religions and referred the issue back to the Belgian Court of Cassation. 
 
 The French claimant, a design engineer for Micropole, was asked to stop wearing her headscarf to maintain neutrality after a client’s complaint but refused and was dismissed. 
 
 Hijabs are headscarves that cover the hair, leaving the face open (AFP/Getty) 
 
 
 
 The ECJ referred the case back to the French Court of Cassation to establish whether the move was a “genuine and determining occupational requirement” and whether there were any formal rules in place that meet non-discrimination requirements. 
 
 The court's advocate general recommended that companies should be allowed to prohibit headscarves as long as a general ban on other symbols was in place, theoretically applying to Sikh turbans, Jewish kippas and Christian crucifixes. 
 
 Their advice in the French case was that a rule banning employees from wearing religious symbols when in contact with customers was discrimination, particularly when it only applied to Islamic headscarves. 
 
 Jonathan Chamberlain, an employment lawyer at Gowling WLG, said the decision brings the EU into line with what has been the UK's approach for several years. 
 
 “For example, it's fine for employers to have a dress code but it needs to be applied with some sensitivity and flexibility to take account of religious beliefs,” he added. 
 
 “What is almost certainly never OK is for an employer to tell an employee to stop wearing a religious symbol because a particular customer has asked for it." 
 
 The Open Society Justice Initiative, a group backed by the philanthropist George Soros which had supported the women, said it was disappointed by the ruling. 
 
 A spokesperson said it ”weakens the guarantee of equality that is at the heart of the EU’s anti-discrimination directive”. 
 
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 1/10 Demonstrators stage a beach party outside the French Embassy, in Knightsbridge, London, in protest against burkini bans PA 
 
 2/10 Jenny Dawkins, a curate from All Saints Church in Peckham, at an anti-burkini ban protest at the French Embassy in London on 25 August Lizzie Dearden 
 
 3/10 Demonstrators stage a beach party outside the French Embassy, in Knightsbridge, London, in protest against burkini bans PA 
 
 4/10 Somayia Khan's six-year-old daughter at a protest against burkini bans at the French Embassy in London on 25 August Lizzie Dearden 
 
 5/10 Friends Rebecca (L) and Hannah (R) at a protest against burkini bans at the French Embassy in London on 25 August Lizzie Dearden 
 
 6/10 Demonstrators stage a beach party outside the French Embassy, in Knightsbridge, London, in protest against burkini bans Reuters 
 
 7/10 Demonstrators stage a beach party outside the French Embassy, in Knightsbridge, London, in protest against burkini bans EPA 
 
 8/10 Demonstrators stage a beach party outside the French Embassy, in Knightsbridge, London, in protest against burkini bans AFP/Getty Images 
 
 9/10 People participate in a 'Wear what you want beach party' protest outside of the French Embassy in London EPA 
 
 10/10 A protester holds a sign which reads "Are you Burkini Beach Body Ready?" as she lies on a beach towel outside the French Embassy in London on August 25, 2016, AFP/Getty Images 
 
 Maryam Hmadoun, the initiative’s policy officer, said: “In many member states, national laws will still recognise that banning religious headscarves at work is discrimination. 
 
 “But in places where national law is weak, this ruling will exclude many Muslim women from the workplace.” 
 
 The Open Society Justice Initiative said all future cases on religious discrimination in workplaces inside the EU will be government by the ruling, which it feared would strengthen wider attempts at headscarf bans. 
 
 “When an employer singles out religious clothing this is direct discrimination, and such an aim is not neutral,” a statement said. 
 
 “The supposed ‘neutrality’ is really discrimination, making the false claim that employers who allow staff to wear the headscarf are in some way not neutral.” 
 
 The ruling, which sets an EU-wide precedent, came a day before the Netherlands’ parliamentary elections, which have been dominated by issues of integration and identity. 
 
 Dutch MPs voted in support of a partial ban on full-face Islamic veils last year, but no law has yet been implemented, while prohibitions have been implemented in countries including France, Belgium and Bulgaria, and are being considered in Germany. 
 
 Attempts by local authorities in the French Riviera to ban so-called “burkinis” worn by Muslim women and impose fines generated fresh debate last year and have since been repealed by courts. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 LONDON — Europe’s highest court ruled Tuesday that employers are allowed to ban workers from wearing visible political or religious symbols including Islamic headscarves. 
 
 In its first direct judgment on the topic, the European Court of Justice said a workplace rule prohibiting any such item “does not constitute direct discrimination” if applied universally. 
 
 The decision, which applies to all 28 countries in the bloc, came in in two cases including one brought by a Muslim receptionist in Belgium employed by contracting giant G4S. 
 
 The Islamic headscarf has been at the center of controversy in a number of European countries, most notably France which attaches particular importance to the separation of religion and government services such as schools. 
 
 Women look at veils on display at an exhibition hall during the Muslim World Fair in Le Bourget, France, on Dec.17, 2011. Christophe Ena / AP 
 
 The judges said a workplace ban on visible symbols would not be discriminatory if it covered “any manifestation of beliefs without distinction.” 
 
 There is a risk of indirect discrimination if certain groups were unfairly impacted, but this could be justified if the rule was “appropriate and necessary,” the judges notes. 
 
 The ruling came on the eve of an election in the Netherlands which has seen fierce debate over the impact of immigration and the rise of visible religious clothes. 
 
 The receptionist, Samira Achbita, was fired in 2006 after deciding she would wear an Islamic headscarf to work, “contrary to the position of neutrality G4S adopted in its contacts with its customers,” the ECJ said. 
 
 She sued for wrongful termination but the court concluded such a ban would be “appropriate for the purpose of ensuring that a policy of neutrality is properly applied, provided that that policy is genuinely pursued in a consistent and systematic manner.” 
 
 Islamic headscarves have become an issue in this week's Dutch elections. Peter Dejong / AP 
 
 However, the court ruled in the second case that an employer could not cite customers’ preferences not to be served by a worker in a headscarf as way to avoid discrimination law. 
 
 The case in involved a French software designer, Asma Bougnaoui, who was fired in 2008 after a customer complained she was wearing a veil. 
 
 “The willingness of an employer to take account of the wishes of a customer no longer to have the services of that employer provided by a worker wearing an Islamic headscarf cannot be considered a genuine and determining occupational requirement,” the ECJ said. 
 
 In 2013, Coptic Christian Nadia Eweida, from London, won a case at the parallel European Court of Human Rights after she was banned by British Airways from wearing a visible cross while in uniform. The court ruled the airline had failed to strike a balance between corporate image and articles 9 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights which protect "freedom of thought, conscience and religion" and prohibit religious discrimination. 
 
 Last summer, some cities in France — including the seaside resort of Cannes — banned burkinis, the full-body swimsuits worn by some Muslim women, from beaches. The move came after the terror attack in Nice where more than 80 people died.
– Fifteen judges on Europe's highest court ruled Tuesday on a case involving Muslim headscarves in the workplace, and the verdict did not come down in the headscarf-wearers' favor. CNNMoney reports that the European Court of Justice decided businesses not wanting to give an appearance of having any political, philosophical, or religious leanings can ask employees to keep to a dress code that doesn't include any such representative symbols or signs. Not allowing the two Muslim plaintiffs, as well as any other women, to wear the headscarf isn't discriminatory, the court notes, as long as symbols from other affiliations are similarly nixed. NBC News notes the ECJ's ruling applies to all 28 countries in the EU. One thing the new ruling doesn't allow: a worker forced to stop sporting a religious or political symbol just because a customer requests it—though if the company already has a ban in place, it wouldn't be discriminatory to make that request. Per the Guardian, this case revolved around an ex-receptionist for security firm G4S, pink-slipped in 2006 for not taking off her headscarf when asked, as well as a former design engineer for IT consultancy company Micropole, which fired her after a client said her headscarf "embarrassed" company staff during a visit. Francois Fillon, a conservative running for French president, hailed the decision as an "immense relief," per the Independent, noting it would bring "social peace," but the policy officer for the Open Society Justice Initiative says the decision could "exclude many Muslim women from the workplace." (Nike has a new hijab for athletes.)