An employment tribunal in Paris has ruled that a hairdresser who was referred to by his boss as a “faggot” was not discriminated against, “because hair salons regularly employ gay people.”
The complainant took his case to the tribunal after being dismissed for missing work because he was sick. His employer subsequently mistakenly sent him a text in which he stated, “I am not going to keep [the employee]… I don’t have a good feeling about this guy. He’s a faggot.” The tribunal ruled that while the term was insulting, its use was neither homophobic nor discriminatory.
The decision has prompted outcry from LGBT rights groups and the general public, with one group describing the commission as “brainless.” The French Labour Minister, Myriam el Khomri, told a radio program that she found the ruling “deeply shocking.”