Delia Garcia Alvarez has taken the City of Brussels to the labour tribunal, alleging that municipal bosses fired her because she wears an Islamic headscarf in her private life, La Dernière Heure reports.
Speaking to French-language Belgian media, the former secretary accused Alderman Faouzia Hariche’s PS cabinet of ousting her after four months on the job. She claims to never have worn the headscarf indoors during her professional duties.
Previously, Alvarez worked two years at the municipal property agency without a single negative review. When the incoming regional government scrapped her project, she applied to Hariche’s human resources cabinet, passing every test and starting in April 2025.
Off-duty secrecy
Strict neutrality rules govern Brussels municipal staff. Respecting that policy at her desk, Alvarez kept her hijab strictly private and saw no reason to mention it during her job interview.
Several coworkers knew her secret and helped her avoid the alderwoman and senior cabinet managers outside city hall.
Tensions erupted on a strike day. During a conversation about a lift home, Alvarez warned an associate of Hariche that she wore a headscarf outdoors. According to Alvarez, that colleague immediately refused to drive her, claiming that transporting a veiled woman would betray both the alderwoman and public neutrality.
Following that associate’s advice, Alvarez informed her chief of staff the next day. Management allegedly reacted with fury, asking why she omitted the detail during recruitment and calling the veil "a symbol of submission."
Later, workplace pressure mounted inside the cabinet. When bosses rejected a holiday request four months into her contract, Alvarez announced plans to take medical leave.
Summoning her that day, superiors terminated her contract on the spot for failing to match the required profile. Officials confiscated her laptop, cut her phone subscription, and barred her from returning before the municipal council formally voted on the issue.
The former secretary alleges blatant religious discrimination. Categorically, Hariche denies the allegations. While declining to discuss the dismissal ahead of a January court ruling, the alderwoman noted that many city employees wear headscarves outside work.
"I totally refute accusations claiming that I am anti-headscarf," Hariche said, adding that the city hired Alvarez while she already wore it privately.
This controversy ties into an earlier Flemish case. In September, East Flanders provincial authorities dismissed special primary school teacher Hadija Amajoud after she refused to remove her headscarf in the classroom.
Backing Amajoud’s appeal in October, the trade union ACOD argued that provincial bosses went too far by enforcing a September 2024 religious symbols ban without transitional rules.
Administrators had granted Amajoud tenure on 1 January 2024, rejecting every subsequent compromise, including a neutral head covering.
