I reported in February on the award made by the employment tribunal in the case of John Reaney. See Reaney awarded £47K and also Hereford: Church Times report.
At the time, we all thought that was the end of the matter. But it was not. As I reported in the Church Times last week:
Hereford ends fight against pay-out
by Simon Sarmiento
THE Hereford Diocesan Board of Finance has withdrawn the notice of appeal it filed in March in the employment discrimination case involving John Reaney. Mr Reaney will now receive the full award, exceeding £47,000, directed by a Cardiff employment tribunal in February (News, 15 February).
In July 2007, the tribunal decided that the diocese had unlawfully discriminated against Mr Reaney because of his sexual orientation, when the Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Revd Anthony Priddis, refused to confirm his appointment as Diocesan Youth Officer in July 2006 (News, 20 July 2007; News and Comment, 27 July 2007).
The diocese did not appeal against this finding, and said in a statement in February: “We are glad we can draw a line under this unhappy situation.” Nevertheless, in March the diocese filed a notice of appeal against the major portion of the Remedies judgment.
Mr Reaney, who had been employed by the Weston Spirit charity, was made redundant earlier this year, as had been forecast in his submission to the Remedies hearing last December.
At last, a bit of common sense in this ridiculous saga…
We’ve had both Archbishops laying into the capitalist system recently, and decrying profligacy and inequality when practised by bankers. Here is a bishop who has shockingly wasted in excess of £47,000 on trying, and failing, to maintain injustice and inequality. Are church fundraisers happy that their hard work goes towards paying a legal settlement incurred by Anthony Priddis, which would have been avoided if the bishop had simply been committed to non-discrimination in the workplace? Shouldn’t the Bishop of Hereford pay the settlement out of his own stipend? Or should he just resign? He is clearly as much of an… Read more »
Fr. Mark, I heartily endorse your view of the saga that has been the direct result of an infringement of the charity and justice required of a Bishop in the Church. Let’s hope no further such barriers are raised against the employment of any person who has been called by God to serve the Church. It must be said that this misuse of money given to the Church for the pursuit of the Gospel, is similar to that now being experienced in the contest for lawful ownership of Church property in Canada and the USA. Hubris on the part of… Read more »