In episode 2 of The FoRB Podcast, Dmytro Vovk and Merilin Kiviorg invite Matteo Corsalini (University of Siena) to discuss religious freedom in the workplace and, more broadly, the business approach to FoRB protection. Matteo explains the economic aspect of FoRB, elaborates on the trend in EU Court of Justice (EUCJ) jurisprudence to expand the discretion of public and private employers in FoRB matters, and traces the EUCJ’s approach to the Court’s nature and history. He also guides Dmytro and Merilin through legal reasoning developed by the EUCJ, the European Court of Human Rights, and the U.S. Supreme Court in similar cases.
Timeline:
2:35 – Economic aspect of FoRB
3:30 – FoRB as an asset
9:30 – FoRB as a matter of business and human rights
12:50 – ESG investing and FoRB
14:33 – What if religious accommodation could diminish workplace solidarity?
16:06 – EU Court of Justice recent decisions
22:15 – Employer neutrality and its expanding limits
25:30 – The EUCJ’s economic approach to human rights
30:52 – Neutrality is not so neutral
33:10 – Gender components to disputes over neutrality policies
37:22 – Nonprofit and for-profit religious employers
41:19 – EUCJ jurisprudence on FoRB and employment, in dialogue with the ECtHR and the U.S. Supreme Court
55:00 – EUCJ application of its economic approach to public employment in 2023