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Faith

Christian Man Wins Court Battle Against British Employer Over Anti-Gay Marriage Facebook Post

Nov. 16, 2012 2:45pm Billy Hallowell

Britain’s High Court has ruled that a Christian man was unfairly demoted for posting his opposition to gay marriage on Facebook. TheBlaze first reported about Adrian Smith’s battle with his employer back in October 2011.

Smith, 55, was stripped of his management position with the Trafford Housing Trust in northwest England and had his salary cut by 40 percent after posting that gay weddings in churches were “an equality too far.” The property manager’s pay cut amounted to a £14,000 per year decrease after simply sharing his view Christian churches shouldn’t be forced to marry gay couples.

Smith’s employer, the taxpayer-funded Trafford Housing Trust, summonsed him to a disciplinary meeting following a fellow staff member’s complaints about his Facebook comments. The company, which manages home sales in Sale and Greater Manchester, removed him from his managerial position and substantially cut his pay.

The trust said Smith broke its code of conduct by expressing religious or political views that might upset co-workers. But High Court judge Michael Briggs ruled Friday that Smith had been “taken to task for doing nothing wrong” and found his employer guilty of breach of contract.

Smith says he is glad the court had backed the principle that “Britain is a free country where people have freedom of speech.”

–

Related:

Christian Man Demoted With a Pay Cut After Posting Anti-Gay Marriage Facebook Comments

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Comments (53)

tommy.tommy
Posted on November 20, 2012 at 4:25pm
Really, it’s doesn’t hurt my feelings at all. If they call me “bigot”? ha ha Because, I can’t stand the sickos filthy homsexuals. There’s one good British person. I could care less. What homosexual England or the filthy U.N Nations “thinks” of me……

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castious
Posted on November 18, 2012 at 11:33am
Jaycen you are as dense as a block of plutonium the business is ” taxpayer funded Trafford Housing Trust ” where is a tax payer funded a private business ?

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liberum1776
Posted on November 18, 2012 at 11:19am
Britain a free country….HAHAHAHA. That is like saying the United States is a free country where you can speak your mind without reprisal. Yea, try it and see what happens

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Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on November 18, 2012 at 1:00am
Funny how Democrats create an anti-marriage environment and then go after someone who simply tells them top knock it off..

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Marc Conder
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 11:23am
This man spoke his beliefs. They are his to own and defend. They were not ment to harm anyone, and to those who took offense at gods laws, it was not him in the wrong. Untill gay men and women are willing to follow basic fidelity, to keep to one partner, and forsake all others, how can they expect either appreciation or respect?

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betterpart
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 6:12am
That’s one sinister place I won’t ever visit nor do any business with, on or offline such as on ebay.

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thegreatcarnac
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 5:13pm
My ancestory makes me half-English by blood and I even have some distant relatives there who I have met before. However I cannot believe what that country has become. I am glad but surprised this guy won against his lib employer. England is soooo politicaly correct that their PC makes American political-correctness look like a Klan meeting. The average Englishman has no rights in his own country. I guess they let one win to make it look like England is a free country.

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- Jaycen
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 7:17pm
  So much for freedom of speech, of peaceable assembly, and freedom of association. The private company doesn’t have the right to make their own conduct rules or decide how to handle their own employees.
  
  How sad that people here think it’s appropriate that the government can force this decision on the private company. How dare you call the company “liberal”, you Regressive Socialist.
  
  Report this comment
- Jaycen
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 7:18pm
  Oh, and when the government can tell you how to run your business, that’s the opposite of freedom.
  
  Report this comment
- Jaycen
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 7:32pm
  Ya know, in my country called America, if a company does something you don’t like you can quit and find a different job. If a company does something to their employees that you find objectionable, you’re free to take your business elsewhere. The FREE market will punish the company.
  
  In America, the government can shove it if they don’t like it. And all these idiot Americans applaud when the British government stomps all over the rights of private citizens in order to take sides with another private citizen.
  
  Report this comment
- turkey13
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 8:23pm
  I read somwehere that they are so PC that in 8 years the Muslim population will be over 50%, and after you figure the other races the Brits will be the minority. It’s like the gun situation over there. They finally figured out that the thugs were the only ones armed and just recently ley the Bobbies start carrying again.
  
  Report this comment
- Wisdom7
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:58am
  @jaycen
  
  Where do you get this is a private company? It says right in the article “…the taxpayer-funded Trafford Housing Trust”. How many private companies do you know of that are tax payer funded besides the bailout companies here in the states?
  
  Report this comment
- Chuck Stein
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 4:10am
  Thank you, Wisdom7. You saved me the trouble of responding.
  
  Report this comment
- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 4:34am
  Jaycen, considering the US is a land of lawsuits. All someone has to do if this situationed arose here, is sue the business, and they will probably come out of it with a nice settlement.
  
  Report this comment
Ken99999
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 4:22pm
The good guys may have won this one, but Britain is certainly NOT the land of free speech or even freedom of thought: case in point…..Dr. Michael Savage, who has been banned in Britain for many months now

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- girlnurse
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 5:28pm
  Right! They simply banned him from the country because they do not like what he says…and you don’t hear much about it from the lamestream or even the so called “right wing” media. If that isn’t 1984 don’t know what is!
  
  Report this comment
- Jaycen
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 7:21pm
  Are you insane? The government stomped all over the rights of the company owners and “the good guys won”?!?!
  
  Big supporter of Obamacare?
  
  Report this comment
- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 4:35am
  Company owners? It’s a tax-funded organization… I.E. it sounds to be a government organization…
  
  Report this comment
shorelineliz
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 4:11pm
Yay! Free Speech wins again! Yay! Love this article! Yippeeee!

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- Jaycen
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 7:26pm
  Free speech LOST. The government dictated to someone what rules they could make on their own private property, as well as how much they can pay their employees and why.
  
  If this was a test to weed out statist progressive socialists, you would have failed.
  
  Report this comment
- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 4:36am
  The government dictated to a government funded organization rules that government organiztions must follow.
  
  Report this comment
andersontja
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:42pm
Sometimes I wonder what the far left freaks will want once they get their homosexual marriage approved and abortion pills sold at gas stations. Probably take marriage away from heterosexuals

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- wvernon1981
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 5:37pm
  “Probably take marriage away from heterosexuals”
  
  Do you seriously believe that?
  
  Report this comment
- Jaycen
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 7:38pm
  I don’t support homosexuals or their behavior either, but they are still free to be that way. Just as churches are free to marry whom they like. Just as straight people are free to attend whichever church they like.
  
  Get the government out of marriage, and the free market will punish fruitcake churches if most people really disagree with gay marriage.
  
  Report this comment
girlnurse
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:21pm
“In Britain, hundreds of people are prosecuted each year for posts, tweets, texts and emails deemed menacing, indecent, offensive or obscene, and the number is growing as our online lives expand”.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/2012/11/16/twitter-facebook-rants-land-some-jail/4Z6oivkvf542HfYCeCmYVO/story.html

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Billy12345
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:20pm
While I disagree with gay marriage, I don’t believe the govt has the right to license marriage, straight or gay. That being said, what about the employers right to put whoever they want in any position? If you disagree with the company, exercise your right to not purchase or use their product or service. A lot of you sound like union stooges. You are enabling fascism.

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- From Virginia
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:43pm
  How is it fascism to express your opinion? How is it NOT fascism to destroy someone’s livelyhood simply BECAUSE they expressed an opinion – and not even on the job?
  
  Report this comment
- Billy12345
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 5:32pm
  I’m talking about the ability of the employer to hire and fire as they choose. You and I may not agree with the reason, but it is not our operation to make that call. It’s a two way street.
  
  Report this comment
- Jaycen
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 7:45pm
  You nailed it Billy. And then the twit who immediately replied to you says that private citizens exercising their rights on their own property is fascism.
  
  Governments can be fascist, but private citizens exercising their rights on their own property can’t – by definition. You must be an under-educated OWS clown. Pick up a dictionary and look up fascism.
  
  Your ignorance and attitude are shameful.
  
  Report this comment
- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 4:38am
  Someone’s livelihood? This was a government funded organization, its government organization, not a free market company… The government has the right to set the rules for its own outfits.
  
  Report this comment
Micmac
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:19pm
Was his position and pay reinstated – many times these blaze articles are posted without complete information

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morostheos
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:16pm
Here’s the key sentence:
“Smith’s employer, the taxpayer-funded Trafford Housing Trust, summonsed him to a disciplinary meeting following a fellow staff member’s complaints about his Facebook comments.”

It’s time to start fighting fire with fire. It’s time to start getting ‘offended’ whenever somebody disagrees and call them a name that ends in ‘-ist’. They have redefined the word hate. It’s time they started living by the new definition they gave it.

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IWISHIWASINTEXAS
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:02pm
Good for him! It’s ridiculous to demote someone just because you don’t like his opinion. What would happen if someone was demoted for posting on Facebook that they support gay marriage? Glad to see that the double-standard was temporarily defeated. Anyone that would support punishing an employee for expressing an opinion is an enemy of free speech and has no right to it themselves.

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- rickc34
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:10pm
  One for the good guys.
  
  Report this comment
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 2:59pm
So this proves, free speech applies to everyone, not just those who lean left or tap their feet in bathrooms.

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- IWISHIWASINTEXAS
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:07pm
  Haha love it.
  
  Report this comment
Pork_Anvil
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 2:55pm
A victory for bigots everywhere!

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- BROBB549
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:01pm
  Why do you have to be a bigot to disagree with gay marriage. We don’t call them bigots for wanting to marry. Why does everything have to have a label? If you don’t agree with a liberal you are a bigot or racist or just plain stupid.
  No, we are none of those things, we just don’t agree.
  
  Report this comment
- IWISHIWASINTEXAS
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:09pm
  Love to see the evidence of the left’s tolerance towards anyone that disagrees with them :) you’re cute Porky, but really really hypocritical and it shows.
  
  Report this comment
- QuincySmith
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:11pm
  porky;
  
  I’m glad you are celebrating: BIGOT
  
  Report this comment
- Pork_Anvil
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:16pm
  It’s not about “disagreeing.” If you dislike someone because they’re white, that’s being a bigot. If you dislike someone because they’re old, that’s being a bigot. If you dislike someone because they’re gay, that’s being a bigot. Are you picking up the pattern here, or am I moving to fast for you?
  
  Report this comment
- Tractorboy
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:31pm
  Oh pick me, pick me, I can play your game if I hate a liar, I’m a bigot, if I hate a thief, I’m a bigot, if I hate someone who cheats, I’m a bigot, do I have this?
  
  Report this comment
- The-Monk
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:33pm
  Tick tock, tick tock…. EtchySketchy
  
  Your 5 pm deadline is approaching….
  
  Report this comment
- andersontja
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:37pm
  Just because I don’t enjoy the thought of two guys going down on each other and giving pearl necklaces doesn’t make me a bigot. You must have a brain tumor.
  
  Report this comment
- Tractorboy
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:47pm
  Oh MONK, I want to play with the troll some more, ANDERSON, a little less info. please.
  
  Report this comment
- Armyof One
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:54pm
  His comment never said anything about hate. He commented that the Church should not be forced to conduct a marriage it feels is not Biblical, or right, in the Churches view. Nothing hateful in that, just a historical fact (not to mention biological).
  
  YOU said hate, not us or Mr. Smith. You hate straight white people. It’s obvious you are bigoted towards anyone that disagrees with you. Haters will hate. Pork Anvil is a hater.
  
  I can dislike anyone or anything I wish to. But I rarely hate anything other than broccoli.
  
  Report this comment
- Ken99999
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 4:34pm
  Listen, you aren’t “disliked” because you’re gay – that’s rhetoric the Left uses to cloud the issue. The real point in this debate is that people like you want to change the definition of marriage – which is the foundational unit of society, and has WORKED pretty well for centuries now. Whatever you want to do with other consenting adults in private is your business. I don’t dislike you for it – but don’t attempt to change the definition of marriage, and think that people aren’t going to have a problem with that.
  
  Report this comment
- IWISHIWASINTEXAS
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 5:01pm
  Well aren’t you the feisty little troll :) I don’t dislike someone because they are gay, I dislike that they attempt to re-define marriage and I disagree with what they do with other men but I don’t have control over that because they have freedoms like I do so if they prefer to spoon homosexually then they can go right ahead. Please though, continue to throw out these names like bigot, racist, war-mongerer, ect. because I know that you are uneducated, ignorant, and intolerant of anyone’s opinion except those modeled after yours. How else could you support the punishment of anyone for expressing their opinion?
  
  Report this comment
- rickc34
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 6:32pm
  Who is the bigot..the employer that discriminated him for his point of view. You are a bigot because you do not share my point of you then .
  
  Report this comment
kickagrandma
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 2:49pm
AWESOME! Some very good news at last.

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- Pork_Anvil
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:29pm
  Awesome? Some “very good news at last?” I guess since you lost to Obama (again), you can at least celebrate some good old fashion gay-hating. So glad you conservatives were denied leadership again.
  
  Report this comment
- andersontja
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:43pm
  Yeah that should boost your hetero hating. Most people don’t care what you do, I don’t. You mean nothing to me
  
  Report this comment
- tmansc
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 4:29pm
  Hey, Bacon_Thimbal, good news in heaven is bound to bring tears in hell so we understand your position. By the way, there is a difference between, “winning an election” and , “buying half of the electorate”. Finally, as far as being denied leadership, I can understand that concept coming from a lemming like yourself, but as far as I am concerned as long as there is breath in my body it will NEVER be whom we choose to lead but rather whom I choose to follow.
  
  Report this comment

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