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From BBC website:
The sacking of a bus driver for being a member of the British National Party (BNP) was a breach of his human rights, a court has ruled.
Arthur Redfearn was dismissed in 2004 after winning a seat on Bradford Council. His employer, Serco, said it feared possible reprisal attacks.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in Mr Redfearn’s favour.
The judgement on Tuesday said the law must not only apply to people whose views are “favourably received”.
The judges ruled Serco’s actions breached the law on Freedom of Assembly and Association because Mr Redfearn was sacked from his job of six months only because of his membership of a political party.
In August 2004 Mr Redfearn lodged a claim of race discrimination which was dismissed by an employment tribunal which found that any discrimination against him had been on health and safety grounds.
The court was struck by the fact that he had been summarily dismissed following complaints about problem which had never actually occurred”
The tribunal found his continued employment could cause considerable anxiety among Serco’s passengers and their carers and there was a risk vehicles could come under attack from opponents of the BNP.
In July 2005 Mr Redfearn successfully appealed against the decision after an appeal tribunal heard no consideration had been given to any alternatives to dismissal.
But in May 2006, the Court of Appeal allowed Serco’s appeal, finding that Mr Redfearn’s complaint was of discrimination on political and not racial grounds, which fell outside anti-discrimination laws.
In its judgement, the European court judges said: “The court was struck by the fact that he had been summarily dismissed following complaints about problems which had never actually occurred, without any apparent consideration being given to the possibility of transferring him to a non-customer facing role.
“In fact, prior to his political affiliation becoming public knowledge, neither service users nor colleagues had complained about Mr Redfearn, who was considered a ‘first-class employee’.”
A Serco spokeswoman said it was aware of the ruling and would now “digest and review the findings”.
I understand the ruling but would you want to be on a bus driven by him?
Would you want to work alongside him?
They didn’t really follow process – not so much falling foul of discrimination as not following their own policies – sloppy.
The bus company had a point but………
I would go on a bus he drove and work alongside him, but if I was black, and knew he believed I should be deported despite having lived in the UK all my life, I would probably feel different.
What should a company do about a guy who has never openly discriminated but holds discriminatory views? If someone hates women but is very proper to them at work, you cannot take action, whatever you might feel about him.
A real moral dilemma.
:?
@panda12 wrote:
I understand the ruling but would you want to be on a bus driven by him?
Would you want to work alongside him?
If he drove his bus safely and was considerate to all passengers regardless of their race or any other factors, then yes I would get on his bus.
I have worked alongside people whose views were distasteful to me including, similar to the point made by moms, a man who did not believe that women should be in the workplace. It had been a male-dominated environment for many years so it wasn’t an issue until women started to break into it – I was only the second female (other than the MD’s PA and the tea lady) in the department. We all knew his views, it wasn’t a secret. He communicated with women only as far as his job required him to and he did his job to the satisfaction of all, so did I and the other women who came into the department after me, that’s what we were paid for. You’re not paid to like someone or to agree with their views, you’re paid to do a job to an acceptable standard and if you don’t like the working environment for whatever reason, you look for another job.
We encounter people throughout our daily lives whose views, if we knew them, might well be abhorrent to us…but we don’t know, because they don’t advertise them. If someone believes in something enough to stand up for their beliefs, should we respect their right to do that even if we disagree, or should we punish them for their beliefs? If we go down that road, where does it end?
I’ve had bus drivers be rude and aggressive to me on occasions. There have been times when I’ve been convinced it was racist, and other times when I thought I was just another victim of an ignoramus.
Would I ride his bus? Of course! My refusal wouldn’t change his views, but would inconvenience me. I hardly ever have any idea what the political views are of those providing me with services and have probably been caused more personal misery by members of other parties or none, but life’s a bit of a lottery isn’t it?
It’s ironic that a BNP member would use human rights/European based legislation, which their party has committed themselves to repealing.
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