Man denied job for ‘being Christian’ settles with hotel

A Christian graphic designer, who sued a hotel claiming he was denied a job at the hotel because of his faith, has settled out of court.

Jamie Haxby claimed that a manager at Prested Hall Hotel turned him down for a job because some staff who are atheists wouldn’t work with a Christian.

Under the settlement, the hotel is making an undisclosed payment to Essex Air Ambulance and Haxby has withdrawn his claim.

Unprecedented

Legal experts said the case was unprecedented as it had simply arisen because Haxby is a committed Christian.

In March last year Haxby filed a complaint with the East London employment tribunal, saying “I have been unlawfully discriminated against for reasons relating to my Christian faith”.

The hotel disputed the claim, alleging that the job was given to a more experienced candidate.

Atheists

According to Haxby, hotel manager Celie Parker interviewed him on 4 December 2012 for a part-time job to design promotional material.

During the interview,  Haxby says that she noted that his portfolio contained previous work samples he had done for churches.

He claimed that Parker then told him that other people on her team were atheists and that they could never work with a committed Christian.

Upset

Haxby said he could hardly believe what he heard and that he felt angry and upset.

“I was not the kind of person who would preach at people or make them feel uncomfortable”, he added.

Haxby stated in his claim that Parker finally expressed regret for asking him to the interview and apologised for wasting his time.

Shocking

Colin Hart, Director of The Christian Institute, which supported Haxby said: “Our laws are designed to protect religious freedoms.

“It’s important that people are able to exercise these freedoms whether it be in their workplace or anywhere else.

“I’m glad Jamie was able to stand by his beliefs and that the case was forced to settle out of court.”

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