BA employee Nadia Eweida loses her appeal for discrimination at the Court of Appeal

A British Airways (BA) worker who was suspended with no pay for wearing a cross around her neck has lost her appeal for discrimination at the Court of Appeal but has vowed to fight on.

Nadia Eweida was suspended from her job as a BA check-in worker in 2006 for refusing to remove a small cross worn visibly around her neck, which BA said was against its policy of requiring jewellery to be concealed by the uniform – with exceptions to those whose religions required them to wear items that could not be hidden.

Ms Eweida brought claims of direct and indirect discrimination on grounds of religious belief, as well as harassment discrimination, however, all to no avail as the Employment Appeal Tribunal rebuffed her claims because “there was no evidence that a group of Christians were put at a particular religious disadvantage when compared with non-Christians,” saying “that this was a cogent and justified conclusion displaying no error of law.”

Human Rights Campaign group Liberty labelled the original ruling by the EAT as setting “a dangerous precedent for freedom of conscience in the workplace.”

Back in 2006 Jack Straw, then House of Commons leader, described BA’s actions as “wholly inexplicable”.

Liberty, which has provided ongoing support for Ms Eweida’s fight, said it was disappointed that the Court of Appeal decided to uphold the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s judgement.

Corinna Ferguson, Liberty’s Legal Officer who represents Ms Eweida said: “This [...] will do little to build public confidence in equality laws protecting everyone. But this is just the sort of case that a Supreme Court is for and we have every hope that the highest court in the land will put Britain’s long tradition of religious tolerance into modern legal practice.”

Dr Vince Cable, MP for Twickenham and Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, commented on the decision: “I’m very disappointed, both for her personally and for the basic issue of principle which we are fighting for along with Liberty, the freedom of religious expression of people doing no harm to anyone else.”

Lord Carey of Clifton, former Archbishop of Canterbury agreed with Dr Cable: “Sadly, the failure of this appeal is likely to lead to further cases of religious discrimination. I believe it is not an exaggeration to say that people of faith are facing particular hardship in a period where different freedoms and rights are being tested against each other.”
 
What do you think about Ms Eweida’s fight? Is the world becoming one big religious tug of war? On the one hand we have the French government looking to impose a ban on women wearing a burka in specific situations, whilst in Ms Eweida’s case when one colleague may be allowed to wear a burka or even a turban which would seem wholly disparate to the BA uniform, Ms Eweida is being told she may not wear a simple necklace with a cross – even though she is a devout Christian?