'Demoted for not backing gay marriage: housing manager's pay slashed for criticising new law on Facebook'
Here's what the Mail didn't tell its readers.
According to a statement made by Trafford Housing Trust;
"At the end of 2010, we updated our Code of Conduct for Employees and provided it to all staff.
"This version of the code clearly set out what use employees can make of social networking sites such as Facebook.
"Some three months after this new code was issued, Mr Smith, without our authority or knowledge and on a Facebook page that identified him as a manager at Trafford Housing Trust, made comments that were found, by a full disciplinary investigation in which he had trade union representation, to be in breach of the company's code of conduct and other policies.
"Mr Smith was disciplined for his breach of company policy. The trust made no comment about any personal beliefs that he holds."
So the Mail On Sunday's claim that Adrian Smith was "Demoted For Not Backing Gay Marriage" was - to put it bluntly - another of their lies.
Whoda thunk it?
You may also be unsurprised to learn Mr Smith's legal action aganst THT is being bankrolled by the loons at the Christian Institute.
Praise be!
Posts
I don't think you can go just on the council's say so here. For example, it is important to ask what is that policy? Which parts has he broken? For example, breaking guidance on expressing political opinions at odds with council equality policies might actually support the Mail's conclusions (as well as suggesting that their policy is too far reaching and damages the employees right to freedom of speech).
ReplyDelete*feels like right wing troll* *cleans self*
Good point, but why is it the Christian Institute who are pushing him to go to court, and not his trade union?
ReplyDeleteBecause the CI is probably more sympathetic to his case. Trade Unions as a general rule will be pro-equality and may have a policy (from conference?) which affects what legal support they can offer and up to what level...
ReplyDeleteBut this is all conjecture...
Because Unison is basicly crap. They did very little to help their members in the THT re-organisation which saw a lot of established, lower paid people made redundant, with no support or help offered. The "Unison way is "shut up and keep your head down", not fight for your basic rights.
ReplyDeleteThe comments Mr Smith made were inoffensive to any Gay person who has a braincell, and if the conversation on facebook had continued, I feel would have led to an interesing debate on the issue.
pedwing: "Trade Unions as a general rule will be pro-equality"
ReplyDeleteWell, that says it all really, doesn't it?
Sounds to me like an open and shut case! The man's comments were made on a private Facebook page, they were anti-gay marriage, he was docked 40% of his pay and Unison are not supporting him because they don't want to seem homophobic. Just for once the Male's story has checked out.
ReplyDeleteNope!
ReplyDelete^ It's not that he was demoted for "not backing gay marriage" but that he expressed views on a profile where it was clearly stated that he worked for Trafford Housing Trust and those views were contrary to or contravened the guidelines that they say they clearly set out.
ReplyDeleteTo me, it sounds a bit like someone wearing a company's uniform while off-duty and doing something that brings the company into disrepute.
If you're representing a company - or in this case a housing trust - then you have a certain obligation. esp, with regard to something this sensitive and esp in the case of a housing trust.
The last thing the housing trust wants is for it to get out that one of its high ranking employees is a homophobic nutter - hence the demotion, I imagine.
Change the issue from sexuality to race and it becomes much clearer.
An employee of a housing trust expresses racist views in a "private" - not really that private as we're all discussing it here and now - manner, but it gets out.
Mail's headline: "Demoted For Not Backing Racial Equality"? I don't think so.
What did he expect?
ReplyDeleteAgain: "Mr Smith, without our authority or knowledge and on a Facebook page that identified him as a manager at Trafford Housing Trust, made comments that were found, by a full disciplinary investigation in which he had trade union representation, to be in breach of the company's code of conduct and other policies.
"Mr Smith was disciplined for his breach of company policy. The trust made no comment about any personal beliefs that he holds."
Fuck 'im!
This man was utterly stupid to make his comments on a Facebook page, albeit a closed one only open to his friends, but I don't think it's entirely accurate to say he's opposed to gay marriage. He spoke very specifically about gay marriage in church. My understanding of the proposed law is that churches who don't wish to offer civil partnerships will not be forced to do so. It's unfortunate that rather than actually pointing this out and educating him, his colleague to whom he made the comments simply ran back to his boss like a coward. They probably had an eye on his job. And it IS 100% about his views, because had he said that he supported gay marriage in church whether Christians liked it or not, I doubt the Trust would've been upset at being associated with such comments, so the company policy excuse is just a smokescreen. I take a dim view of religious inspired bigotry, but the punishment seems incredibly disproportionate to the crime here.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't make derogatory comments about gay people, or even gay marriage per se, he expressed a view that's held by pretty much most religious leaders, whatever you think of them, and is actually going to be enshrined in the proposed law.
^ But as his comment was relatively minor in its bigotry, doesn't that suggest it wasn't the nature of the comment that got him demoted, but just that he broke company code?
ReplyDeletePeter Tatchell,the homosexual activist,has publicly criticized the treatment of Adrian Smith by the Trafford Housing Trust:
ReplyDelete‘Adrian Smith reportedly made his comments in his own time on his personal facebook page,which is not viewed by the general public. He expressed an opinion.’
“His opposition to religious organisations being forced to conduct same-sex marriages is shared by the Prime Minister and the Equality Minister,the gay rights group Stonewall and the entire leadership of the Church of England. If Mr Smith is guilty,then they are all guilty.
“Mr Smith voiced his opinion in a calm,non-abusive manner. He was not threatening or intimidating.”
Mr Tatchell made it clear that he does not agree with Mr Smith’s opinions,but defends his freedom of speech.
Thanks, all good points.
ReplyDeleteBut the point here is what he actually got demoted for was NOT what the Mail claimed.