Unequal treatment because of religion or belief

Bibliogr. s. 44-46

The article presents the legal opinions of two Advocates General (AG) of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and two judgments of this court (CJEU) issued in cases C-157/15 and C-188/2015 in matters relating to religion. The main research method used in the article is the dogmatic method. The author analyzes the positions of two lawyers employed as AG CJEU in matters concerning the imposition of bans by entrepreneurs on persons employed, displaying religious symbols in places and time of work. The article is divided into five parts. In the first part, the author looks at legal concepts such as discrimination and religious freedom. In the second part, the reader is introduced to the essence of the dispute between entrepreneurs and employed believers of religion. The third part deals with the cases regulated by the provisions of Directive 2000/78/EC concerning lawful exceptions to the prohibition of discrimination. The fourth part is devoted to the policy of religious neutrality recognized by the European Union as a remedy between employers and employees. In the last, fifth part, the operative parts of the judgments of the Court of Justice are listed. CJEU rulings prohibit employees from wearing and displaying overly visible religious symbols. Failure to comply with this prohibition cannot be considered as direct discrimination on the basis of religion. The interest of the entrepreneur is not a sufficient justification for the parties to the re-employment relationship to reach an agreement, because the wearing of religious symbols by employees in the workplace cannot be considered as a "significant professional requirement."