An employment tribunal has found that a housing officer was not unfairly dismissed or discriminated against on the ground of his religion when he was dismissed for telling a woman with an incurable disease that she needed to "put her faith in God", reports the BBC website.
Mr Amachree was suspended by Wandsworth Council in January 2009 after the woman complained that she had received a "30-minute barrage" from him about how his religion could save her and she didn't need to bother with doctors. He was dismissed in July 2009 following an internal investigation and unsuccessful appeal.
The case is a reminder to employers that they shouldn't shy away from disciplining employees who inappropriately attempt to foist their religious beliefs on colleagues or customers. The key case is Chondol v Liverpool City Council EAT/0298/08 [subscription required to access the individual reports], where the Employment Appeal Tribunal drew a distinction between an employee's religious beliefs and inappropriate promotion of those beliefs.
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Comments (1)
It's such an odd idea that the terminally ill should look to god for help. The religious seem to get most excited about god when he's killing them or somebody else. At least the religious worker refrained from reveling in god's wisdom at his condemning the poor sinner to a painful death, which has not been the case for Christopher Hitchens:
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/09/hitchens-201009
Posted by Luke Smith | August 12, 2010 10:07 AM
Posted on August 12, 2010 10:07