Printer Refuses Trans Equality Poster Order
Employment solicitors are used to dealing with a wide range of discriminatory practices in workplaces.
These are increasingly common as more and more people realise that they may be able to take legal action over discriminatory practices, that they have experienced in the past.
Recently a company which helps other businesses promote trans equality in the work place, experienced discrimination of its own when a printer refused to print its order.
Company owner Joanne Lockwood ordered the business cards for her business SEE Change Happen, from Southampton printer Nigel Williams, after meeting him at a conference. The order was for some cards and posters to promote trans equality in the workplace.
She was shocked to get a letter back from Mr Williams claiming he could not complete the order as it would ‘marginalise Christians’.
In a letter seen by the Sunday Times he wrote: “The new model of diversity is used (or misused) to marginalise (or indeed discriminate against) Christians in their workplaces and other parts of society if they do not subscribe to it.
“Although I’m quite sure you have no intention of marginalising Christians, it would weigh heavily upon me if through my own work I was to make pressure worse for fellow Christians.”
The campaign group Christian Institute has backed the printer, saying this is a freedom of speech issue. However, there have been similar cases in the past where businesses were found to have been discriminatory in their decision to exclude certain customers. It will be worth seeing hose this case unfolds.