London, England - The Muslim teaching assistant at the centre of a row over wearing a full veil in class appeals against tribunal decision, which cleared the school of discrimination and harassment.
Aishah Azmi is taking her case to the employment appeal tribunal in London. It will be heard before a panel including a high court judge.
The appeal comes three days after the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) confirmed that headteachers will retain the power to decide whether Muslim pupils should be allowed to wear the full veil.
Confirmation of the status quo followed a review of school uniform after the high court last month rejected the appeal by a Buckinghamshire Muslim schoolgirl that her human rights were infringed because her school refused her permission to wear the full-face veil.
Today's tribunal hearing focuses on the case of Azmi, who was suspended on full pay last year after staff at Headfield Church of England junior school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, said pupils found it hard to understand her.
An employment tribunal in Leeds dismissed three of Mrs Azmi's claims of discrimination and harassment, but found that she was victimised by the school and awarded her £1,000 for "injury to feelings".
Last November, a month after the tribunal hearing, the local education authority sacked her from her post as a bilingual support worker.
Mrs Azmi from Dewsbury said she was willing to remove her veil in front of children - but not when male colleagues were present.
The case at the time added to the controversy that followed Jack Straw's request to veiled women to uncover their faces during constituency surgeries in Blackburn. He warned that the use of the full veil by a growing number of women was damaging community relations.
The row over the issue culminated in Tony Blair saying it was part of a necessary debate about the way the Muslim community integrates into British society and that the veil was a "mark of separation" which makes people of other ethnic backgrounds feel uncomfortable.
But the interventions of politicians were criticised by the employment tribunal and Muslim community leaders.
The original tribunal report said it was "most unfortunate" that politicians had made comments on the case, which was sub judice.
Mrs Azmi's original decision to go the employment tribunal last year followed advice from an imam where she lives in Dewsbury.
Her claim was brought as a test case against Kirklees borough council under the new religious discrimination regulations, the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2004.