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16/11/2012
Man Wins Gay Wedding Facebook Comment Case
A Christian who was demoted in his job for a comment he wrote on Facebook about gay marriages has won a breach of contract action against his employers.
Adrian Smith, 55, lost his managerial position and had a 40% salary cut after saying a gay wedding held in a church was an "equality too far".
Mr Smith, from Bolton, claimed that Trafford Housing Trust (THT) acted unlawfully in demoting him.
He also alleged that the trust had breached his human rights.
Disciplinary action was launched against Mr Smith after he posted the comment next to a BBC News Online story, written in February 2011, with the headline, "Gay church 'marriage' set to get the go-ahead".
The father-of-two's Facebook comments were not visible to the general public, and were posted outside work time, but the trust argued he broke its code of conduct by expressing religious or political views which might upset co-workers.
High Court judge Mr Justice Briggs said: "Mr Smith was taken to task for doing nothing wrong, suspended and subjected to a disciplinary procedure which wrongly found him guilty of gross misconduct, and then demoted to a non-managerial post with an eventual 40% reduction in salary.
"The breach of contract which the Trust thereby committed was serious and repudiatory."
(H)
Adrian Smith, 55, lost his managerial position and had a 40% salary cut after saying a gay wedding held in a church was an "equality too far".
Mr Smith, from Bolton, claimed that Trafford Housing Trust (THT) acted unlawfully in demoting him.
He also alleged that the trust had breached his human rights.
Disciplinary action was launched against Mr Smith after he posted the comment next to a BBC News Online story, written in February 2011, with the headline, "Gay church 'marriage' set to get the go-ahead".
The father-of-two's Facebook comments were not visible to the general public, and were posted outside work time, but the trust argued he broke its code of conduct by expressing religious or political views which might upset co-workers.
High Court judge Mr Justice Briggs said: "Mr Smith was taken to task for doing nothing wrong, suspended and subjected to a disciplinary procedure which wrongly found him guilty of gross misconduct, and then demoted to a non-managerial post with an eventual 40% reduction in salary.
"The breach of contract which the Trust thereby committed was serious and repudiatory."
(H)
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