Nadia Eweida: BA said she had failed to comply with their 'uniform regulations'
Posted on 10/13/2006 4:57:44 PM PDT by fanfan
Nadia Eweida: BA said she had failed to comply with their 'uniform regulations'
A Christian woman has been banned by British Airways for wearing a small cross necklace to work - while muslims and sikhs are allowed to wear headscarves and turbans.
Heathrow check-in worker Nadia Eweida was sent home after refusing to remove the crucifix which breached BA's dress code.
Her treatment by BA - which styles itself as the "world's favourite airline" - brought condemnation both from Christian groups and members of other faiths last night.
BA's chief executive Willie Walsh has upheld the action against Miss Eweida for failing to comply with "uniform regulations" despite himself coming under fire recently for failing to wear a tie.
Miss Eweida, who has an unblemished record during seven years at BA, is suing her employer for religious discrimination after being suspended from work without pay for two weeks.
She said her treatment was all the more extraordinary as she and fellow employees had just undergone "diversity training" - including receiving advice from pressure group Stonewall on how to treat gays and lesbians in the workplace.
The airline's uniform code states that staff must not wear visible jewellery or other 'adornments' while on duty without permission from management.
It makes exceptions for Muslim and Sikh minorities by allowing them to wear hijabs and turbans.
Under rules drawn up by BA's 'diversity team' and 'uniform committee', Sikh employees can even wear the traditional iron bangle - even though this would usually be classed as jewellery - while Muslim workers are also allowed prayer breaks during work time.
But Miss Eweida, 55, from Twickenham, insisted her cross, which is smaller than a ten pence piece, was not jewellery but an expression of her deep Christian faith.
She questioned why she was being forced to hide her religion when BA's Muslim and Sikh workers could express theirs.
Miss Eweida said last night: "I will not hide my belief in the Lord Jesus. British Airways permits Muslims to wear a headscarf, Sikhs to wear a turban and other faiths religious apparel.
"Only Christians are forbidden to express their faith. I am a loyal and conscientious employee of British Airways, but I stand up for the rights of all citizens."
Her case comes at a time of intense debate over the rights of individuals to express their belief - following Jack Straw's call for Muslim women to remove their veils.
Earlier this month it emerged BBC governors had agonised over whether newsreader Fiona Bruce should wear a small cross on a chain around her neck while on air in case it might cause offence by suggesting a religious affiliation.
Miss Eweida, a Coptic Christian whose father is Egyptian and mother English, was ordered to remove her cross or hide it beneath a company cravat by a duty manager at Heathrow's Terminal 4 last month.
She then sought permission from management to wear the chain - but was turned down.
When Miss Eweida, who is unmarried, refused to remove the necklace she was offered the choice of suspension with pay or unpaid leave, pending a disciplinary hearing.
Following a meeting with her managers on 22 September 2006, Customer Service Manager Caroline Girling told Miss Eweida in a letter: "You have been sent home because you have failed to comply with a reasonable request.
"You were asked to cover up or remove your cross and chain which you refused to do.
"British Airways uniform standards stipulate that adornments of any kind are not to be worn with the uniform."
In a letter to Miss Eweida's MP, Vince Cable, last week, BA chief executive Willie Walsh insisted his employee had not yet been disciplined but said she was off work for failing to comply with "uniform regulations".
He added: "We have previously made changes to our uniform policy to accommodate requests, after a detailed evaluation process including Health and Safety assessment to incorporate the wearing of Sikh bangles."
But Miss Eweida said: "BA refuses to recognise the wearing of a cross as a manifestation of the Christian faith, but rather defines it as a piece of decorative jewellery.
"I would like to say how disappointed I am in this decision and the lack of respect shown by BA towards the Christian faith.
"I have been badly treated. I am a loyal and hardworking employee and for seeking similar rights to other employees, I have been treated harshly by British Airways management.
"British Airway can be great again, but it needs to treat Chrstians fairly. I am not ashamed of my faith."
Miss Eweida is suing BA under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003.
Her case is being supported by her union, the TGWU, and she has hired Paul Diamond, a barrister specialising in religious affairs and an adviser for the Keep Sunday Special campaign, to represent her at her employment tribunal.
And a petition of support has been signed by more than 200 fellow workers.
BA is already at the centre of a criminal investigation into alleged price-fixing - which has led to the resignations of two executives.
The airline has come under fire in the past for its adherence to political correctness.
A decade ago it attempted to ditch its traditional Union Flag tailfin in favour of an ethnic design - which provoked the anger of Baroness Thatcher.
Mr Cable, MP for Twickenham and Liberal Democrat deputy leader said: "It is absolutely mind boggling that Britain's flag-carrying airline could treat its employees in such a disgraceful and petty manner.
"Nadia is a devout Christian who was displaying her faith, but in a modest and totally unprovocative manner.
"It is absolutely right that other religious minorities be allowed exemption from the dress code, but why can't a Christian be treated in the same way?"
Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, international director of the Christian charity the Barnabas Fund, said: "Discrimination against Christians is commonplace in Muslim-majority contexts, such as Egypt where Nadia's family roots are. "Now we see the same thing increasingly happening within the UK.
"Her Sikh and Muslim colleagues at BA can show their faith publicly in what they wear, but Nadia and other Christians cannot. All we are asking for is a level playing field for all faiths."
Andrea Williams of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship said: "The forces of political correctness are such that an individual needs to be very determined to protect their rights."
Make limp wrist gestures and ridicule them? That's what I'd advise.
Satan knows he has little time left and is increasing enfuriated at ANY reminder that Christ is Lord.
Then she should come in on Monday wearing this...
Or perhaps one of these...
That is patently untrue. Sihks can wear their "bangle"--which is jeweltry--with no problem. There should be rioters smashing windows at BA headquarters at this very hour. That seems to be the only thing that gets the attention of the left.
Hey, this stuff is wild...so the daughter of Zion is the Catholic church??? Who would've known???
So now I get it...The millenial reign of Christ (for your church) takes place between the time of the crucifiction and the end of the world...So we are now in the millenial reign of Christ, spiritually that is...Yeah, that's wild...
This brings us to the significance of Daniel's prophecy. According to Daniel, the wrath of the End is intimately related to the transgression of the liturgical sacrifice -- to the desecration of the communion offering -- a liturgy he called the 'perpetual sacrifice'.
So the Apocalypse is related to the desecration of the Eucharist...Funny I didn't read any thing about a perpetual sacrifice in Daniel...In my bible, or yours...
Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
And this is 'translated' by your guy to say:
Quoting Daniel, Jesus said that when Antiochus put iniquity on the sacrifice in Jerusalem by installing the desolating sacrilege above the altar in the temple, he initiated an allegory of the end times so momentous that it has no parallel in scripture.
That's not what Jesus said...Read the scripture...
When the beast who is the focus of this allegory appears and puts his iniquity on God's sacrifice it will bring the harvest to an abrupt end and precipitate the horrifying apocalypse because it will break the treaty of peace Christ made with the world at Calvary Hill.
So this guy's saying that when the beast shows up and puts iniquity on the Eucharist, the Apocalypse will start shortly thereafter...
Man, talk about wresting the scriptures...
ok so british airways is on the FR S list.
for the next five minutes or so.
just like walmart was on the FR s list...til they took a hard stand against unions. now its who cares if they carry chinese goods, lets all step over our dead mothers to shop there since they dont like unions.
if BA does something folks "like" then it will be all hugs and kisses
She shouldwear a miraculous medal or a LARGE crucifix.
"just like walmart was on the FR s list...til they took a hard stand against unions. now its who cares if they carry chinese goods, lets all step over our dead mothers to shop there since they dont like unions. if BA does something folks "like" then it will be all hugs and kisses"
Well, her union is supporting this woman in her case, as is her local Liberal Democrat MP, but no-one seems to have picked up on that part in the article yet....
I cannot figure cultural suicide.
If you want to complain to British Airways and let them know that you intend to boycott their airline and pass the call for a boycott through cyberspace, here is there contact form:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/askbainter/public/en_us?source=TOP_contactus
By the way, enough of all this eschatological stuff. That dispensationalist theology is errant to the core. (I don't have either the time or inclination to explain why.) We need not be wringing our hands about the "Great Coming Persecution, but rather preparing to resist.
http://novaemilitiae.squarespace.com/st-george-brigade/
Ditto.
Me neither.
BTW, my DH just received his new T shirt......"I will not submit".
Going to the mall tomorrow!
An unmarried 55 year old is a "granny"?
I like that logo!!
The Euro-peon's squalidly socialistic offshore satellite state, AKA once great (or so certain of its sorry subjects insist) Britain, once again demonstrates the extent to which saddened said subjects -- and especially those in its capital, Londonistan -- are already ruled by Sharia "law."
Ms Melanie Phillips scores it: Islamanzis 99; Limeys, Zip.
<< But he is a honorary Shiek of some kind. I don't recall the article, but it was said that he converted to Islam. Try google the subject, and see what comes up >>
Ms (Noddy?) Spencer's cuckold, Big Ears, has also put the (tattered remnants of the) "church" of England and the Limey's elitist establishment on notice of his intention to refuse to swear to "defend the Faith," (The Christian Church of England, that is) if and when he ever gets to pretend to the title of "king." Charley insists the timeless language of the hundreds of years old coronation service be amended to allow him to appease his other Arabist/Islamist mates by offering to "defend faiths."
<< There's no score in this game yet.
Miss Eweida is fighting this blatant discrimination, and may yet win. >>
The fact of BA's having demonstrated its willingness to appease both Sikhs and Islamists while spitting in the face of Christianity is, when aligned with every other of the many thousands of other similar demonstrations in everyday British life, indicator enough that Britain has jumped the shark.
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