Nose-stud employee reinstated

A Hindu woman, sacked from Heathrow Airport for wearing a nose-stud, has been reinstated.

Amrit Lalji had worked as a cleaner and customer relations worker in a VIP lounge for over a year when she was fired for wearing a nose-stud that her employer, Eurest, a catering company, said could be hazardous.
Lalji claimed the jewellery was religious, comparable to a wedding band, but when she refused to remove it she was suspended and later sacked.
Brian Palmer, employment partner at Charles Russell LLP, says Lalji’s reinstatement, which was done before the case went to an employment tribunal in a claim under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/1660), was a sensible decision.

He says: “The key point in Lalji’s case is that, although employed by a caterer, her job did not have any involvement with catering. Had the matter gone to tribunal then Eurest would have had to seek to justify the requirement for the removal of jewellery set against the job which Lalji carried out. That would have been difficult to achieve.”

Palmer adds: “While employers may consider that a blanket policy applied equally to all employees may offer them the best protection against potential discrimination claims, thought has to be given to policies and the rationale behind them for their enforcement to be successful and non-discriminatory.”