An NHS trust has been sued after it dismissed a hospital electrician for expressing his Christian beliefs.
Brian Walker, 66, was subjected to various complaints at Southmead Hospital after he spoke out about his Biblical views on same-sex marriage. He said he has been treated by NHS bosses like a ‘terrorist’.
Walker said the complaints followed his removal as a Scout youth leader, and subsequent settlement with the Scout Association, after he compared a Muslim leader in a niqab to Star Wars villain, Darth Vader.
He launched a formal grievance against North Bristol NHS Trust, saying he was being sanctioned for expressing freedom of speech, after being told that documents recording complaints against him, including one on his religious views, would remain on record for a year. He was suspended and a disciplinary panel said his behaviour had been discriminatory.
Walker resigned and has claimed constructive dismissal and discrimination.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre which is supporting Walker, said the Trust’s claim ‘equates Brian’s Christian conservative beliefs with neo-Nazism’. She added: ‘It’s really sinister when we get to a stage where argument will be made in a UK court that Christian beliefs, are unworthy of human rights protection.’
‘Christian social values advocate for the freedom of the individual to live and speak out their beliefs.’ The court’s verdict is awaited.
