LONDON (CNN) — A British Christian woman suffered religious discrimination when British Airways told her not to wear a visible cross over her uniform, a top European court ruled Tuesday.
However, three other British Christians lost related religious discrimination claims at the European Court of Human Rights.
British Airways violated the article of the European Convention on Human Rights that guarantees freedom of religion when it stopped employee Nadie Eweida wearing her cross openly, the court said.
Eweida said she experienced discrimination from 2006 to 2007, when she started wearing the cross visibly and was transferred to another job. The airline has since changed its policy on uniforms to allow employees to wear religious or charity symbols.
In its ruling, the court weighed Eweida’s desire to show her religious belief against the airline’s wish to project a certain corporate image.
“While this aim was undoubtedly legitimate, the domestic courts accorded it too much weight,” it said, referring to British Airways’ position.
However, the court found that three other British Christians who argued they’d been unfairly dismissed from their jobs had not been subject to religious discrimination.
They are nurse Shirley Chaplin, who also wanted to wear a cross at work, registrar Lilian Ladele, who declined to register gay civil partnerships, and Gary MacFarlane, a relationship counselor who did not want to give sex therapy to same-sex couples.
In the case of Chaplin, the court ruled that the concerns of hospital managers for health and safety outweighed the nurse’s desire to wear a cross visibly in the workplace.
The cases of the registrar and the relationship counselor had been fairly considered in the national courts, the court said.
“In each case the employer was pursuing a policy of nondiscrimination against service-users, and the right not to be discriminated against on grounds of sexual orientation was also protected under the Convention.”
The parties in the cases have three months in which to lodge an appeal.
The four Christians turned to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg after losing every round of their battles through the British legal system.
Their claims were filed under European human rights law, focusing on guarantees of freedom of religion and freedom from discrimination at work.
The cases have been closely watched in Europe because they may help to draw a clear boundary in cases where religious views contradict laws against discrimination. The court’s decisions have implications across 47 countries on the continent.
The court ruling will not be binding in Britain, but the country is legally obliged to take it into account.
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