An Austrian court has ruled that a hotel’s ban on burkinis, full-body swimsuits worn by some Muslim women, in its swimming pool amounts to religious discrimination, upholding a fine already imposed on the establishment.
The two complainants, sisters and practising Muslims, were refused access to the pool at a hotel in the Pongau district of Salzburg province, western Austria, because staff enforced a rule that effectively banned burkinis.
The Salzburg Regional Administrative Court (Landesverwaltungsgericht) determined that the ban was not justified by legitimate hygiene or safety reasons and breached anti-discrimination provisions, dismissing the operator’s appeal and confirming the penalty notices issued by the Pongau district administration, Austrian daily Heute reported.
According to the court, the hotel operator had discriminated against the two women on the basis of their religious beliefs and prevented them from using a service.
“As managing director of the hotel, you prohibited two hotel guests from using the hotel’s own swimming pool on the grounds that wearing burkinis is not allowed. In doing so, you discriminated against these people on the basis of their religious beliefs,” the ruling stated.
It stressed that burkinis are made of the same materials as other swimwear and that routine water checks had not revealed any abnormalities. The court added that “subjective feelings of other guests cannot legally legitimise unequal treatment”.
Statements by the hotel operator weighed heavy for the court. She reportedly stated that the guests must adhere to “Austrian customs” and that burkinis were more fitting in Saudi Arabia. According to the court, this was direct discrimination on religious grounds.
Earlier, the responsible ministry stated in a parliamentary inquiry that a burkini was neither harmful to the water nor unhygienic. Austria’s Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) reached a similar conclusion in 2020, finding that swimwear has no relevant significance as a source of germs.
In a reaction to the verdict, one of the two women who filed the complaint, a lawyer who describes herself as a peace activist, stated: “For the good of all of us, it should not be about whether people dress or undress, but about how we treat each other, because respect and humanity are the basis for peaceful coexistence, which is vital for all of us.”
