His Jesus Pic offends Muslims - he gets the axe
I used to sit in church every Sunday and stare at this pic of JesusAN AIRPORT suspended a Roman Catholic worker after a Muslim colleague protested about an image of Jesus pinned up on a staffroom wall. Gareth Langmead, 40, was stunned to be sent home from Manchester airport after putting up the image of the Sacred Heart. Bosses are said to have ordered the car parks supervisor to be escorted off the premises after the Muslim complained.
Mr Langmead was only reinstated three days later after an investigation found that his action was not intended to be “malicious or provocative”.
The row comes a year after BA check-in worker Nadia Eweida was suspended for wearing a cross at Heathrow. Yesterday friends and union representatives backed Mr Langmead.
One friend said: “He’s really gutted about this. “When he found the image in an office drawer, he thought it would be nice to pin it up. “In the end he was treated like a criminal and walked off the premises. He wasn’t trying to annoy anyone.
He is Christian and it is a Christian piece of art. What is wrong with that?” Unison union official Glyn Platt said: “Suspending him was an over-reaction – this could have been dealt with informally.
“It would have been more appropriate for someone to have had a quiet word with him, or to ask him to take the picture down if it caused any offence, rather than take any action. “There are no guidelines on what should or should not be pinned on a wall.”
It is understood that Mr Langmead found the picture while cleaning out an office. He felt unable to throw it in a bin because of its religious importance and could not take it home in case that was seen as theft.
It is understood the co-worker who complained alleged that hanging the picture was an “act of provocation”. But the investigation ruled that Mr Langmead, of Atherton, near Wigan, had not meant to cause offence.
A Manchester airport spokes- man said yesterday: “This investigation was concluded swiftly. “The employee has returned to work with a clean record. “We have agreed with our airport chaplain that he and his team will work with the employees involved to foster a greater level of understanding of each other’s beliefs and how this applies to the workplace.”
Ack! And now the poor guy has to go through sensitivity training? How about working with the Muzlim crybaby to explain deportation procedures?
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