DO: Allowed to be Misogynistic Towards Women at Work – If You're Muslim

A Muslim man was denied a job at Stockholm Public Transport (SL). The reason was that the man made it clear that he puts his Muslim faith, where women are inferior to men, before Swedish values of gender equality. For example, he refused to shake hands with women. But now the man has the support of the Equality Ombudsman (DO), which argues that misogyny in the workplace is allowed – if it can be justified on religious grounds.

The Muslim fundamentalist man applied for a position as a security guard at SL in the capital and was booked for a job interview. But when the man informed the employer before the interview that, due to his faith, he could not consider treating women as equals, the interview was canceled.

Defending Misogyny

The man felt discriminated against and filed a complaint with the Equality Ombudsman (DO). And the authority is on the man’s side.

In a statement, criticism is directed at the company, stating that it was wrong not to allow the man to attend the interview. Muslim misogyny takes precedence over respect for Swedish values of gender equality, according to DO.

In his complaint, the man argued that it should not be seen as a problem that, for religious reasons, he looks down on women. This is because he did not believe he needed to shake hands with any woman in his job.

At Stockholm Public Transport, they saw things differently and argued that such situations can indeed arise for a security guard, and that it is a problem and a violation of the company’s neutrality policy to consider women as lower beings at all. In the light of #MeToo, they believed they had the right on their side.

Islam Trumps Gender Equality

But refusing to greet women as a manifestation of one’s view of women is not reason enough to deny someone a job. If misogyny can be traced back to Muslim religious beliefs, it must be allowed, DO believes, and justifies the special right in the following way.

“Touch is something that not everyone is comfortable with, and there is no reason to insist on shaking hands specifically because there are other ways to greet respectfully that do not involve physical contact.”

It is not clear from the available information on the DO’s website whether the company is required to pay any compensation to the Muslim man.

Opposite Decision in Previous Case

The decision represents a change of course for the authority. In previous disputes of the same kind, they sided with the employer.

In 2016, DO made a ruling in a case where a man felt discriminated against when applying for a job as an integration counselor at a residence for young migrants and was denied the job when he stated that, due to his Muslim view of women, he does not greet women by shaking hands, something he had no problem doing with men.

At that time, DO argued that it was not wrong to deny the man the job. The employer’s requirement that employees should be able to touch people of both sexes “is not unreasonable,” they said at the time. In the current decision, the authority takes an opposite stance.