Jesus image earns airport worker a suspension
Pastor Dale Morgan
Jesus image earns airport worker a suspension*
By Megan Levy and agencies
Last Updated: 7:09pm BST 10/10/2007
A religious man was suspended from his job at Manchester Airport after
he hung a picture of Jesus on his staff room wall.
Car park supervisor Gareth Langmead found the image of Jesus as he was
clearing out a desk drawer.
Unable to throw the image out, the 40-year-old Christian hung the
picture - on the wall of the staff rest room.
But his actions earned him a three-day suspension, after a Muslim
colleague complained that it had been put up as an act of provocation.
Mr Langmead was escorted off the airport and was suspended while airport
management investigated the complaint.
Mr Langmead, of Atherton, Greater Manchester, was eventually reinstated
without a blemish on his record after airport bosses decided he had done
nothing wrong.
An airport spokesman said Mr Langmead had not complained about his
treatment, but lessons had been learned about the way the situation was
handled.
In light of the incident, the airport Chaplain and his team would now
work with employees to "foster a greater level of understanding about
each other’s beliefs", the spokesman said.
Mr Langmead's suspension comes weeks after a Hindu airport worker at
Heathrow lost her job for wearing a nose stud as part of her religion.
Amrit Lalji, 40, had worked in the VIP lounge of Terminal One for more
than a year before she was fired for wearing the tiny stud.
She was reinstated to her post as a customer relations worker after an
appeal.
Another Heathrow worker, Nadia Eweida, was suspended for four months for
wearing a Christian cross.
She returned to work after the airline agreed to review its uniform policy.