London, England - A Hindu woman, sacked from Heathrow for wearing a nose stud signifying her religion, is today fighting to be reinstated.
Amrit Lalji, 40, had worked in the VIP lounge of Terminal One for more than a year when she was fired for wearing a tiny stud that her employers, Eurest, said could be hazardous.
Mrs Lalji claims she told her employers the jewellery was religious, but this summer a British Airways manager instructed her to remove the nose pin. When she refused she was suspended and later sacked. "As a married Gujarati woman it's a must to wear it. It only comes out when you become a widow. I told them that I can't remove my nose ring because my husband is alive," she told Times Online.
The GMB Union representing Mrs Lalji, said it would fight to have her reinstated immediately. Tahir Bhatti, spokesman for the GMB said, “Eurest…knew that she considered the pin to be required by her religion and she had every reason to believe that had been accepted.”
A spokesman for Eurest said Mrs Lalji was made aware of company policy on jewellery that prohibits “flesh piercings” which can be hazardous to customers. “Mrs Lalji’s decision not to return to work without the nose stud contravenes company rules and regulations and she was dismissed,” he said.
The nose stud has been worn by Hindu women for thousands of years as a sign of chastity but it is not a compulsory religious adornment.
The case comes after a battle over religious jewellery involving another Heathrow worker last year. Nadia Eweida was suspended by British Airways for wearing a silver Christian cross on a necklace, but the airline later backed down, after calls from the Archbishop of Canterbury for her to be reinstated.