Unfair dismissal: man who refused to shake woman's hand receives €34,000

This is evident from a ruling made public today by the District Court of The Hague.

The 21-year-old man had been working for a company since June 1st of this year, which seconded him as an IT employee to the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA). He was to work there as an IT service employee, working from home.

Two days later, an awkward moment arose when the man refused to shake hands with a female team leader during an introduction at the COA (Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers). The COA then filed a report of gender discrimination with his employer.

A day later, the employee was confronted by his employer about the incident. He then sent an email to his employer and the team leader, politely explaining that he hadn't intended to humiliate anyone, but had acted out of religious conviction.

That same day, his employer informed him that his employment would not be renewed during the probationary period. His employer didn't provide a reason. When the man asked why he was being let go, the company replied that it had "demonstrated that there was an insufficient alignment between your performance and the expectations within our organization."

However, the employee suspected he had been fired because he refused to shake the hand of the female team leader. He went to court, where he claimed damages for wrongful dismissal. According to the man, he had not discriminated against the woman based on her gender, but rather had been discriminated against by his employer based on her religious beliefs.

A ruling made public today shows that the District Court of The Hague ruled in the man's favor. The Hague subdistrict court emphasized that companies are not permitted to dismiss employees based on their religious beliefs. The judge rejected the employer's assertion that the termination of the probationary period was due to "insufficient connection."

According to the subdistrict court judge, it was far too early to draw that conclusion on the man's third day of work. The statement from a COA supervisor also played a role. It stated that the COA could not yet assess the IT employee's suitability because he had only just begun his induction period.

The subdistrict court judge also notes that shaking hands generally shouldn't have been a major problem for the IT employee. After all, he would be working from home. In other cases, the employer could have devised a structure where the employee wouldn't shake hands at all, instead of just not shaking hands with women.

Ultimately, the Hague subdistrict court ruled that the company had made "prohibited discrimination" and that the termination was discriminatory. Because the court held the employer "particularly responsible" for terminating the man's employment contract based on prohibited discrimination, the severance payment is remarkable.

Although the employee had only been employed for three days, the judge awarded him a so-called 'fair compensation' of 34,000 euros.