An employee of British Airways, who had asserted that she suffered discrimination in the workplace because of her Christianity, has triumphed in a legal battle at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Nadia Eweida dragged the British Airways to the ECHR after she was compelled to quit her job for sporting a Christian cross, which was in violation of British Airways’ dress code for its employees. The employee’s legal victory at the ECHR grants her the right to wear a cross while working for the British Airways.

The Christian employee’s arguments were initially dismissed by a British tribunal and, then, by the British Court of Appeal, followed by the Supreme Court. The tribunal decreed that Nadia Eweida wasn’t a victim of religious discrimination. But the ECHR found merit in her arguments.

Nadia Eweida, hailing from Twickenham, was transported home in September 2006 by British Airways for wearing a small silvery cross on a chain around her neck, which she wore as a personal expression of her religion. Nadia Eweida returned to work for the British Airways in customer services in February 2007 at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5. This was after the British Airways altered its uniform policy on visible items of jewellery. But she continued with her fight in the ECHR to attain a legal triumph.

The ECHR judgement said a just balance wasn’t struck between Nadia Eweida’s desire to show her religious belief and British Airways’ wish to demonstrate a certain corporate image. The ECHR judgement remarked that Nadia Eweida’s cross was discreet and cannot have undermined her professional appearance. Governmental lawyers voiced that Eweida’s right against religious discrimination and her right to freedom of religion and conscience were safeguarded only in private. But the ECHR declared, by 5-2 votes, that Article 9 (freedom of religion) of the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated in Eweida’s case.

Nadia Eweida’s victory in the ‘cross case’ at the ECHR has been greeted by PM David Cameron, who tweeted that he is delighted that the principle of wearing religious symbols at work has been preserved by the ECHR.