LGBT News Christian nursery worker claims unfair dismissal over dispute with gay colleague

Having not seen the evidence, it's hard to comment on whether dismissal was correct. But I'm often wary of any case the CLC take on as they tend to perpetuate the Christian victimisation complex.

As for religious discrimination, I always find it funny how these people think they are being discriminated against when they can't use their religion to discriminate against someone else.

Discriminating against someone and then trying to say it should be allowed because their bible/religion says they should is cowardly and reprehensible.

Let's hope we one day live in a world where we can all just get along without such discrimination.

Happy days

 

I think religious beliefs should not be talked while at work, perhaps on break.
It's not professional and it is counterproductive. Some people might also get offended.

 

Assuming everything about the story checks out then I think that's an entirely fair dismissal. I have no problem with someone holding Christian beliefs, but if that's going to lead to harassment of other employees, hampering the running of my business and you demanding to pick and choose what you do and don't do while I'm employing you then here's your P45.

 

If the woman who was fired is being honest then she seems perfectly within her rights. Granted I find her beliefs somewhat morally repugnant, but I don't want to live in a world where its illegal to have or express differing ethical or religious views.

If she did indeed step beyond those boundaries to actively harassing her coworker then her hiring sounds reasonable, of course. But if not, then I hope she wins her case so that anti-gay activists will still be wrong when they say that Christians have been persecuted based on their beliefs about homosexuality.


EDIT: the bit about refusing to read stories about gay parents, assuming that was explicitly asked of her as part of her job, might change things. Although I'm unclear on whether that was actually mentioned as part of why she was being fired.

 

Totally agree with the above. If I go up to someone at work and ask their opinion, I'm probably sometimes going to get an opinion I disagree with. They have as much to their opinion as I do. If I'm easily offended by opposing opinions I guess I shouldn't go around asking people what their opinions are. This is of course assuming she is being honest. This is why I don't discuss religion or politics at work.

 

Several things; her colleague's existence is more important than the former nurse's opinion. Second, it takes a lot to fire someone for homophobia, so it would have definitely been harassment, not just a harmless, passing comment. Third, this is a hospital. LGBT+ people get ill/are injured, and a vocally bigotted nurse is a very, very bad person for that role.

Everyone has a technical right to their opinion. Nobody has a right to a position they've shown themself unworthy for.

 

If what the fired woman said was true though, none of that seems to apply. According to her own story, she didn't challenge or threaten her co-worker's existence, but just stated her beliefs when asked. The fact that it should take more than a passing comment to get her fired also doesn't prove that it was actually anything more than that.

Now of course, she could well be lying about her side of the story; obviously someone is lying since the stories don't seem to match up at all. I'm sure a major part of the trial will be an attempt to figure out which parts of which stories are accurate. Perhaps unfortunately, its not as easy as saying "that woman's a homophobe, she must be a bad person in every other way."

 

Is it just me or does anyone else think these are the most insufferable of all religious people. I'd prefer they just outright hated you rather than veiling it with this bullshit nonsense; at least you can take them at face value.

 

^ No, it's not just you. WBC unquestionably has bigots, so it's easier to notice that they oppose us. On other hand, these people who say somewhat hateful things that belie tolerance are not only annoying but also insidious.

Also, this story reminds me of a comic:

 

She was *asked* for her opinion on the matter,
The fact that the LGBTQ* member was unable to deal with it,
Is their fault.

We can't assume everyone agrees with you,
Let alone punish people for having differing opinions.

 

Fuck, I misread. It's a nursery, not a hospital. That makes things even worse.

 

Out of all the Christians that say that God does not condone the practice of homosexuality, some of them are saying that as a veiled negative comment, but actually the rest are saying it out of a heart of love. The genuine ones are trying to help gay people by trying to point out their "wrongdoings," but this is hard to do so in a loving manner, especially from the perspective of the gay nonbeliever. They're just going by the Bible passages that can be interpreted as being against gay sex. "Coming as you are" would be a phrase to indicate that the lesbian woman would have to remain celibate, or worse she would be welcomed as a sinner into church, but would encourage to date men or some nonsense.

Anyway, if this Christian employee is merely stating her beliefs, then that's fine. If the lesbian employee doesn't believe in God, then how would the concept of being called a sinner affect her in any way? I think that people should be able to coexist, ignoring the differences of opinion to keep the workplace flowing smoothly. If the Christian woman had a problem reading a book with LGBT parents, and it was part of the job description and built into the work rules, then she would be better off in a Christian based nursery.

 

1. I've been told that I'm going to hell when I die, and I still exist.

2. You're probably right about that, I'm not familiar with the legal or employment system in that country. Where I live most hourly employees are "at will", meaning you can be let go for almost anything. With my employer if you make a homophobic comment you'd probably get promoted.

3. The story didn't say that she said this to a patient, nor did it say she denied care to anyone because of her beliefs. If I was a nurse I could care for a homophobic person just the same as someone else, despite my disagreeing with their viewpoint. She may be unworthy of her position, but I don't have all the facts to make an informed judgement on that.

---------- Post added 22nd Apr 2014 at 08:17 AM ----------

Love this! Thanks for posting it.

 

This is really sad. The Lord made some of his children gay for a reason, but the world doesn't accept them. Its sad.
I'm a Baptist lesbian and this is just so wrong in many ways. Man, why can't people accept each other for how God created them?

 

Right ok, if she was pressured by her colleague to discuss the issue and was then reported for answering and the giving of the Bible was as she said "because she was interested" than that is unfair grounds.

If however she initiated these conversations and repeatedly told this women that her lifestyle is wrong and the Bible was given as a means to convert her, and on top of this she redused to perform her duties in the roles? Than it is fair.

One thing i'll add is that either way this is not religious discrimination because if she was fired unfairly it wasnt because of her religion but because she was forced to discuss an issue which led her to say something homophobic.

 

It's hard to say whose right or wrong in this situation since both stories aren't adding up. Of the fired woman's story is true then she probably shouldn't have been fired. Yes her opinion may be bigoted but her coworker shouldn't have pressured her into giving an opinion.

 

While I don't agree with the nurse's opinion, if she was pressed for her opinion and her gay coworker got all butthurt because she didn't like the response that she pressed for, I believe the nurse is within her rights to fight to have her dismissal overturned.

Tolerance goes both ways. Even if you don't like or agree with someone's way of life, that doesn't mean demanding that everyone like gays. That's as bad as demanding that everyone likes Christians.