Decision of the Court of Appeal of Milan, Labour Section, No. 579 of 4 May 2016

The case concerned the exclusion of a young woman from the selection process for a job at a trade show, due to her refusal of performing this activity without wearing the Islamic veil (hijab, which leaves the face uncovered). For the Court of Appeal of Milano, the exclusion amounted to direct discrimination against the claimant, because her refusal did not rule out any of the ‘essential requirements’ for performing the job, in the meaning of Article 3.3 of legislative decree No. 216/2003. Judges must assess discrimination objectively, irrespective of the agent’s intent. There were not pecuniary damages in the case, because none of the women participating in the selection had the job, actually; however, the Court of Appeal ordered those who organized the selection to pay compensation for non-pecuniary damages suffered by the claimant because of being discriminated.