(Nadia Eweida poses for a photograph in the Temple Church in London January 15, 2013. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor )
Europe’s top human rights court ruled on Tuesday that equality laws and safety concerns trumped religious freedom in three cases where British Christians were sacked or sanctioned for expressing their beliefs at work.
The European Court of Human Rights ECHR.L ruled employers did not violate the religious rights of a registrar who refused to officiate for civil partnerships of same-sex couples and a counsellor deemed unwilling to offer sex therapy for gays.
It also turned down an appeal by a nurse whose hospital barred her from wearing a cross around her neck. In the fourth case in the verdict, a British Airways clerk suspended for wearing a cross won her appeal and was awarded damages.
“The principle of non-discrimination against gay people has been upheld,” said Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society which opposed all the appeals.
