|
Worker suspended over Jesus image, after complaints from Moderate Muslim
A Catholic worker at Manchester Airport was suspended after hanging an image of Jesus on a staff room wall. Gareth Langmead, 40, was sent home from his job as a car parks supervisor after a complaint from a Muslim colleague. He was off work for three days while an investigation was carried out and later reinstated with a clean record. Union officials accused the airport of overreacting and said Mr Langmead was upset by the incident, but the airport said he had not complained. The airport worker, from Atherton, Greater Manchester, found the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as he was clearing out a desk drawer. As he felt unable to throw it away, Mr Langmead hung it on a wall in the staff rest room, prompting a complaint it had been put up as "an act of provocation". Airport bosses investigated the claim but reached the decision that he had done nothing wrong. Manchester Airport spokesman A spokesman said: "We can confirm that a member of staff was suspended pending an investigation into his conduct. "This investigation was swiftly concluded and the employee has returned to work with a clean record. "Given the nature of this incident, we have agreed with our airport Chaplain that he and his team will work with the employees involved to foster a greater level of Understanding™ about each other's beliefs and how this applies in the workplace." News of the suspension emerged a week after Hindu Heathrow Airport worker Amrit Lalji, who lost her job for wearing a nose stud, was reinstated. Last year, Heathrow worker Nadia Eweida was suspended by British Airways for wearing a Christian cross but later reinstated following condemnation by clerics and politicians. Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-10-10 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=202032 |