Spanish clothing chain Zara fired two employees from store in France on Tuesday after the story of a Muslim woman being denied entry caused social media outrage.
“This type of mentality is unheard of at Zara,” said Jean-Jaques Salaun, the head of Zara’s French stores, “and there have never been instructions given out to act this way.”
A security guard at the store in Plaisir, west of Paris, asked the woman to remove her headscarf, known as a hijab. When the woman refused, she was not allowed to enter. While French laws do ban the use of full-face veils such as with the burqa or the niqab, the hijab covers only a woman’s hair, and so does not fall under that ban.
A video of the encounter posted on social media prompted calls for a boycott. Salaun said he offered the woman a full apology as soon as he heard about the incident and confirmed that both the manager and the security guard had been dismissed.
“Respect for diversity is the fundamental pillar on which Inditex (Zara’s parent company) was founded, with more than 140,000 employees worldwide representing a rich multitude of cultures and religions,” Zara said in a statement.
“We would like to sincerely apologise for what has happened. Our Country Head in France has personally contacted this customer to apologise for the incident and to express our utter disagreement with such actions, which are completely opposite to the principles of our Company. Both the security staff and the store manager have been sanctioned. Once again, we are deeply sorry about this.”