Posted by
InchDeep on Saturday, May 24, 2008 2:51:14 AM
Employment agency sued for discrimination
Published: 23 May 08 11:54 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/11966/
The Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination (DO) is suing the Swedish Employment agency for 160,000 kronor ($27,000) in damages to a Muslim man who lost his benefits after refusing to shake a woman's hand during an interview.
In May 2006 the 24-year-old man applied for a trainee position as a
welder at a company in Älmhult in southern Sweden. During the
interview, the man declined to shake hands with the woman interviewing
him, citing religious reasons that do not allow him physical contact
with women outside of his family.
He did explain this to the woman and instead put his hand on his chest,
and bowed. However, not only did the gesture cost him the chance of
securing the trainee position, he also had his unemployment benefits
removed.
This is the first time the DO has sued the employment agency, Caroline Dieb, information chief for the DO, told The Local.
"By taking away the man's unemployment benefits the employment agency
has not followed the law which deems that all should be treated
equally, regardless of ethnic or religious persuasion," she said.
Apparently the company interviewing the man reported that they would
not hire him due to "incompetence", but the employment agency instead
chose to interpret his actions during the interview as the real cause
and therefore withdrew his benefits.
According to Dieb this constitutes "indirect discrimination" and she
believes they have a strong chance of winning the case at the District
Court.
Speaking to the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper, Katri Linna of the DO
explained that the employment agency had completely misjudged the
situation.
"If an official body cannot follow the law then how are we to motivate the individual to do so?" she said.
TT/Allegra Grevelius (news@thelocal.se)