Man denied job for being "Christian" settles with hotel

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 Under the settlement, the hotel is making an undisclosed payment to Essex Air Ambulance and Haxby has withdrawn his claim.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