Can enforcing your uniform policy be unlawful? - August 08
In the recent case of Watkins-Singh v Aberdare Girls’ High School, the High Court has held that the refusal of a School to grant an exemption to its uniform policy to enable a Sikh pupil to wear a Kara (a Sikh bracelet) to school constituted indirect race discrimination.
There have been several cases over the years which have considered the issue of pupils wearing religious garments to school in breach of the uniform policy. The Judge in this case stressed that the judgment was fact sensitive and that his decision was not intended to resolve these issues.
In the case of Begum v Denbigh High School in 2006, a Muslim pupil was not permitted to wear a Jihab to school, and the pupil’s claim that her human rights had been infringed by this refusal was not upheld by the House of Lords.
Similarly, the case of X v Y School concerned a Muslim pupil who was not allowed to wear the Niqab to school. The Niqab is a veil that covers the entire face and head, save for the eyes. The High Court held that the School’s refusal was proportionate.
In the case of Watkins-Singh, there were two main factors taken into account by the Judge. Firstly it was important that the wearing of the Kara was both objectively, according to independent evidence, and subjectively, according to the pupil, of exceptional importance to the pupil’s religion or race. The Judge held that it was not necessary for the Kara to be a requirement of the Sikh religion, and that such a test would be too high a threshold.
Secondly, in considering whether the School’s refusal to grant an exception to the policy was justified, it was very relevant that the Kara is a very slim, unobtrusive bracelet which is only visible if the pupil is not wearing long sleeves. This was compared by the Court to the Jihab and Niqab in the above cases, which are both extremely visible. As a result of the discreet nature of the Kara, the arguments put forward by the School in attempting to justify the refusal were not accepted. These arguments included fostering a community spirit, minimising differences in wealth, opening the “floodgates”, causing difficulties due to “standing out” and potential bullying.
When pupils wish to depart from the school’s normal uniform policy on religious grounds it is essential that proper consideration is given to their requests. Schools should take time to understand the religious significance behind a request and the importance to the pupil. This will need to be balanced against the importance of maintaining a consistent uniform policy and any other considerations which may be relevant, such as health & safety. Schools will need to demonstrate that any refusal to accommodate a religious garment is justified and a blanket refusal to depart from the normal policy is likely to breach discrimination legislation.
For further guidance on uniform policies or dress code issues please contact Emilie Darwin at emilie.darwin@rickerbys.com or Alice Reeve at alice.reeve@rickerbys.com.
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