Exeter, UK - A NURSE says she has been banned from working with patients because she refuses to remove her crucifix necklace on the wards.
Shirley Chaplin is taking her local NHS trust to an employment tribunal after the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital in Exeter took her off duty in July when she refused to remove her cross.
Hospital chiefs said she had to take off the pendant or pin it inside her clothes because of health and safety risks.
Chaplin is reportedly claiming at the tribunal that she has been targeted because of her faith. She will meet her employers tomorrow to discuss her future.
She is said to have been threatened with suspension or told she must accept an administrative role if she refuses to comply.
The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust confirmed that a nurse had been requested to remove her necklace in line with uniform policy, but said she had not been suspended.
Her case is the latest example of an employee claiming victimisation because of wearing a crucifix.
Chaplin is being advised by Paul Diamond, a human rights barrister specialising in the law of religious liberty. He also advised Caroline Petrie, a nurse who was suspended in February this year at a hospital in Weston-Super-Mare for offering to pray for a patient. She was later reinstated.
In 2007, Nadia Eweida, a British Airways worker, appealed unsuccessfully to a tribunal against the airline’s decision to ban her from wearing her cross pendant in public.
Chaplin, 54, a married mother of two, has worn the crucifix since she was confirmed 38 years ago.
A spokeswoman for the Devon and Exeter trust said: “Regardless of what might be attached to the pendant, we have a duty of care towards both our patients and staff and the trust considers the wearing of any pendant to be a risk, albeit a small one, because patients, particularly those who are confused, might grab for items.”
“It is perfectly acceptable if they pin the crucifix on the inside of their lapel or pocket. Our policy does recognise that there may be cultural or religious reasons why a member of staff may wear an extra item of clothing such as a [Muslim] headscarf, and that also gets risk assessed, for infection control.”