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BA worker to sue over crucifix
15/10/2006 16:26 - (SA)
London - A British Airways worker sent
home for refusing to conceal a small Christian cross while on
duty plans to take legal action against the airline.
The Observer newspaper on Sunday said Nadia Eweida intends
to sue the airline for religious discrimination after she was
told not to display the cross, but to hide it under her uniform.
The Heathrow check-in worker said she had recently undergone
training on respecting and understanding people's beliefs when
she was asked to remove the crucifix from view.
"I was forced to take unpaid leave because I have refused to
remove my cross or put it under my cravat," she told the
newspaper.
The airline said 55-year-old Eweida was on voluntary unpaid
leave and had not been suspended. A spokesperson said British
Airways recognised that uniformed staff may wish to wear
jewellery including religious symbols. Christians 'targeted'
"Our uniform policy, which has been in place for a number of
years, states these items can be worn, underneath the uniform,"
he said.
"Other religious items such as turbans, hijabs and bangles
can be worn as it is not practical for staff to conceal them
beneath their uniforms."
Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe, a high profile convert to
the Roman Catholic faith, said Christians were being unfairly
targeted.
"Why on earth if a BA employee can wear a headscarf, which
they can, can wear a turban, which they can, can wear a Sikh
bangle, which they can, why uniquely can a Christian not wear a
cross?", she said on BBC television. Jack Straw
The issue of religious dress and symbols has been in the
spotlight in recent days after Jack Straw, the former foreign
secretary, said Muslim women who wore full veils made community
relations difficult.
Now the leader of the house of commons, Straw said he would
prefer that women did not wear them because they acted as a
"visible statement of separation and difference".
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