A teacher in Valais who refused to hang a crucifix on his classroom wall was unlawfully fired.

That is the ruling of the Valais cantonal court, as it upheld the teacher’s appeal against his summary dismissal on Thursday.

The teacher was sacked in 2010.

The Stalden school said it was because he was insubordinate and unqualified.

The teacher maintained that it was partly because he refused to put a crucifix on his wall.

The Valais court did not take up the question of whether it is legal to hang a crucifix in a public school.

Instead, it examined whether the way the school fired the teacher was legal and found that it was not, saying that only extremely serious misconduct could justify a summary dismissal.