Muslim kids wag school for end of Ramadan, miss school photo so they sue the school. And win.
Thursday, 13 July 2017
(imagine telling your primary school teacher he'd made a mistake he'd live to regret by organising the photographer for a day you wanted off. "That'll be $10,000 please Sir, for my pain and suffering".)
A court in The Netherlands has found that Maria Montessori school in Wateringse Veld, Den Hague discriminated against two Muslim children by organising a photographer to take class photos at the end of Ramadan.
The Muslim kids decided to take Eid, the end of Ramadan as a day off.
It's not a public holiday, no other kids had reason to take the day off. It was a matter of choice. Choose one thing, can't have another.
This pair didn't want to go to school that day - and because of that choice, they weren't in the class photos.
So their parents sued.
They wanted 10,000 Euros for each child to make the pain and suffering disappear.
The court gave them 500 Euros each.
Here's the English translation (via Google) and for at least one highly esteemed foundation supporter of this website, the original Dutch below!
The Hague - The parents of The Hague children who missed the class photo event because of the Sacrifice Party find discrimination. "The school's behavior can not stand by the bracket," says the lawyer of the parents. The judge decided on Monday that the parents are entitled to compensation.
"They are sorry for the fact that it has come to pass, but the school did not want to apologize, did not recognize that it had acted incorrectly and only wanted to enter into the conversation if clients were to be strictly confidential. That was unacceptable for clients, "says lawyer Laura Zuydgeest.
Discrimination
According to the court, it has not been sufficiently demonstrated that the school has done everything in its power to move the photo momentum. "There is discrimination and school behavior can not be done," says Zuydgeest. The school says that there were apologies and that there were all kinds of alternatives.
The 500 euro damages give the parents a charity for orphans. "It is now black and white that a school in providing services should take into account the faith of all children at that school. The desire of a school to put children in a sunny place does not reflect the importance of celebrating a religious holiday. That's what the clients were all about, "explains Zuydgeest.
Ouders gemiste klassenfoto: 'Er is sprake van discriminatie'
Foto: ArchiefDEN HAAG - De ouders van de Haagse kinderen die het klassenfotomoment misten vanwege het Offerfeest vinden dat er sprake is van discriminatie. 'De handelswijze van de school kan niet door de beugel', zegt de advocaat van de ouders. De rechter besloot maandag dat de ouders recht hebben op schadevergoeding.
'Zij vinden het jammer dat het zover heeft moeten komen, maar de school wilde geen excuses aanbieden, erkende niet dat zij fout gehandeld had en wilde alleen het gesprek aangaan als cliënten strikte geheimhouding zouden betrachten. Dat was voor cliënten onbespreekbaar', zegt advocate Laura Zuydgeest.
Discriminatie
Volgens de rechter is niet voldoende aangetoond dat de school er alles aan heeft gedaan om het fotomoment te verplaatsen. 'Er is sprake van discriminatie en de handelswijze van de school kan niet door de beugel', zegt Zuydgeest. De school zegt dat er excuses zijn gemaakt en dat er allerlei alternatieven zijn aangedragen.
De schadevergoeding van 500 euro schenken de ouders aan een goed doel voor weeskinderen. 'Het staat nu zwart op wit dat een school bij het aanbieden van diensten rekening moet houden met het geloof van alle kinderen op die school. De wens van een school om kinderen zonnig op de foto te zetten, weegt niet op tegen het belang om een godsdienstige feestdag te mogen vieren. Daar ging het cliënten van het begin af aan om', legt Zuydgeest uit.