Norway: Fired for wearing the hijab

"I think it is shocking that there are still Muslim girls who can't work anywhere just because they put on hijab," says Badrkhan.

Arve Bernsten, who employed her, confirms that Badrkhan could have continued in her position if she had stopped using a hijab or other head covering.

In recent years young Muslim women have had big problems on many occasions due to the hijab.  In December 2003, Ambreen Pervez was told by her employer, A-Møbler, that she couldn't come to work again unless she stopped wearing the hijab.  Politicians from many parties went out to support Pervez. Demonstrations were carried out to support her and newspapers were flood with letters.  A-Møbler held fast till the current Gender Equality Ombud at the time, Kirstin Mile, concluded that A-Møbler's uniform regulations broke the equality laws.
 
Since then many companies gave their employees a green light to wear the hijab.  Others went even further and developed their own job-hijab, such as Ullevål university-hospital and IKEA.

But still not everybody accepts the hijab in the workplace.  Badrkhan found that out a short time after she began to work for the clothing enterprise Oscar Jacobson Norge AS, which has premises at Steen & Strøm at the center of Oslo.

The 30-year old says she was wearing a hijab during the interview and that it was discussed then. 

"I began to use a veil about a year ago of my own volition."

Badrkhan came to Norway when she was seven.  Her parents are originally from Iraqi Kurdistan.  In 2003 she completed her education as a fashion designer at the international French fashion school Esmod.

Arve Berntsen, the store manager, was impressed with Badrkhan's qualifications and gave her the job.

"We agreed that I will try to work a while and see if I liked it there and see if the clients didn't react to me wearing a veil.  But none of the clients did that."

Yet it wasn't long before Badrkhan got an ultimatum from her boss.

"Employees in other stores of Steen & Strøm, together with Arve Berntsens's Swedish boss, reacted to my wearing the hijab and sometimes a hat over the hijab," says Badrkhan.

Berntsen confirms that.  He says he has nothing against the hijab.  If he had, he wouldn't have employed Badrkhan.  But he got reactions from employees and from his boss in Sweden.  They thoughts it was too much to use a head covering indoors.  That she put on caps and hats was ok by him, but he couldn't deal with the daily reactions from those who thought it wasn't alright.  If she would have adapted and stopped wearing a head covering indoors, he says, she could have continued her test period for the month, since Badrkhan is a very professional and smart woman.

"Was any of the clients negative?"

"No, I didn't receive any direct negative reactions from clients," says Berntsen.

Badrkan reacts to the statement that it would have been a test-period.

"In the job advertisement Oscar Jacboson was looking for a permanent part-time employee two days a week and more if needed.  I went to a completely ordinary interview.  There were many who were searching, but he chose me because of my qualifications.  In the advertisement it only said permanent employee - nothing about a test period due to a veil.  I think it is ridiculous to say that people should be allowed to wear a hijab indoor. I think people should be allowed to do so because they heed Islam.  People can't choose to take off the hijab indoors - because it's there to cover the hair and neck from strange men."

"It must be illegal to have a test-period because people wear hijab.  Berntsen thought that 10% of elderly Norwegian men and women who could react to me having a veil, and he said he was anxious about these client's opinion.  But in reality I lost my job because some employees in other stores of Steen & Strøm and Oscar Jacobsen's boss in Sweden had reacted to me wearing the veil,and Berntsen listened to them."

Badrkhan has made contact with the equal opportunity and discrimination ombudsman.

"I want the ombudsman to react to what happened to me.  There is so much talk that Muslim girls should contribute to change, but when we don't get an opportunity to work just because we wear a hijab, it becomes difficult to contribute to integration," she says.

Source: Dagsavisen (Norwegian)