Facebook gay wedding comment man wins demotion case

A Christian who was demoted in his job for a comment he wrote on Facebook about gay marriages

A Christian who was demoted in his job for a comment he wrote on Facebook about gay marriages has won a breach of contract action against his employers. Adrian Smith, 55, lost his managerial position and had a 40% salary cut after saying a gay wedding held in a church was an “equality too far”. High Court judge Mr Justice Briggs said: “Mr Smith was taken to task for doing nothing wrong, suspended and subjected to a disciplinary procedure which wrongly found him guilty of gross misconduct, and then demoted to a non-managerial post with an eventual 40% reduction in salary. The breach of contract which the Trust thereby committed was serious and repudiatory.”   

BBC News 16 November 2012

Read more

Latest News

Read More

What does “a different kind of leader” really mean?

30 June 2025

Newsletter

Receive the latest HR news and strategic content

Please note, as per the GDPR Legislation, we need to ensure you are ‘Opted In’ to receive updates from ‘theHRDIRECTOR’. We will NEVER sell, rent, share or give away your data to third parties. We only use it to send information about our products and updates within the HR space To see our Privacy Policy – click here

Latest HR Jobs

You will lead HR Business Partnering, OD, and Learning & Development, and also oversee HR related managed services. You may already be an HR Director

HR Project Manager Job Title: HRProject Manager Location:North London Sector: Education ContractType: Permanent About the Role We havepartnered with an Educational establishment who are looking

University of Greenwich – Deputy Director of PeopleSalary: Competitive This provides summary information and comment on the subject areas covered. Where employment tribunal and appellate

HR Analytics and Reporting: Utilise HR metrics and analytics to inform decision-making and report on HR performance. Purpose of the Role The Human Resources Director

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE