Christian nurse ‘treated like crook for wearing cross’
A CHRISTIAN nurse who claims she was ‘treated like a criminal’ for wearing a cross is suing an NHS hospital for discrimination.
Mary Onuoha, 61, told an employment tribunal yesterday she was ‘singled out’ and her managers waged an ‘antiChristian’ campaign to get her to remove the necklace.
She had worked at Croydon University Hospital in south
London for 18 years and had worn the small gold cross for 40 years, the tribunal heard.
From 2015, her bosses took issue with the necklace, she said. In August 2018, their complaints escalated and she was ordered to remove it.
The operating theatre specialist was also told she could wear a longer chain or tuck the necklace inside her clothes to stop it from dangling from her neck while on duty, the tribunal heard.
She was given the option to wear a cross badge on a lapel but said yesterday: ‘My necklace is blessed, the cross is blessed. They don’t say to other faiths how to wear their symbol.’
Lawyers for the Croydon Health Services NHS Trust said bosses took issue with the necklace as it did not conform to the dress code, arguing that it could be grabbed by patients or pose an infection risk.
Mrs Onuoha’s lawyers will argue that the dress code was applied inconsistently and breached her freedom to manifest her faith under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights and under the Equality Act.
They will say other staff at the hospital were allowed to wear jewellery, turbans, saris and hijabs.
The nurse described how managers once entered an operating theatre to ask her to remove her cross, risking a patient’s safety. She said a blue pendant and earrings worn by the anaesthetist in the same operation were ignored.
In November 2018, Mrs Onuoha received a letter telling her she was being demoted to reception duties for her continued refusal to comply and that an internal investigation would ensue.
The tribunal heard that the trust had been told by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) watchdog in recent years that hospital staff were failing to adhere to the trust’s dress code. One CQC report referred to a woman wearing jewellery in an operating theatre. Ben Jones, representing the trust, said it would be ‘well advised’ to take such notes from the CQC seriously.
Mr Jones argued that the CQC reports showed the trust was not singling out Mrs Onuoha.
The tribunal was also told that managers had approached other staff about their jewellery.
Mrs Onuoha quit in 2020 and took up a nursing position elsewhere. Before yesterday’s hearing, she said: ‘I am a strong woman, but I have been treated like a criminal.
‘I love my job, but I am not prepared to compromise my faith for it, and neither should other Christian NHS staff in this country.’
A spokesman for the Croydon Health Services NHS Trust said it could not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
‘Not prepared to compromise my faith’