Germany's highest court has ruled that a shop was wrong to sack a Muslim woman who wanted to wear a headscarf at work.
The department store in Schluechtern, near Frankfurt, had argued that the headscarf would antagonise "rural conservative customers".
But the Federation Constitutional Court ruled that woman's right to religious freedom took precedence - especially since the store had not proven its business would be harmed.
The woman, Fadime Coral, who had worked for the shop for 10 years, was sacked the day after she made the request in 1999.
Her complaint against the shop, Langer Einkaufsland, was dismissed by two lower courts before it was upheld by the Federal Labour Court in 2000.
School neutrality
The family-owned business then appealed against that ruling - but the Constitutional Court refused on Thursday to hear the case.
Ms Coral, aged 30, now theoretically has the option of returning to her job, or seeking compensation.
The Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe is separately examining a similar case brought by an Afghan-born woman, Fereshta Ludin, who has been barred from working in a German state school because she insisted on wearing a headscarf.
The government of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg in southern Germany is arguing that "the strict neutrality of public schools in religious issues" would be violated by a teacher wearing a headscarf.
A federal court upheld the state's argument last year.
The Karlsruhe court is expected to rule on the case in September.