A Christian doctor who was sacked because he refused to refer to transgender people by their chosen sex or 'call any 6ft tall bearded man madam' will take his fight to the High Court.
And I expect he'll lose. Because when you work for someone, you call the client whatever your employers wants them to be called.
Or you find another job.
Dr Mackereth, an A&E doctor with 28 years' experience, was sacked as a medical assessor for the Department of Work and Pensions in 2018 after refusing to identify clients by their chosen gender instead of their biological sex.
And he thinks that he can claim victimhood:
In July 2019, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, he took his case to an Employment Tribunal in Birmingham claiming harassment and discrimination based on his Christian beliefs.
He claimed his employer had breached his right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
But, not content with telling him 'No, it's in your contract that you abide by the rules of your employer', the panel decided to go further:
But a panel condemned his view of what it means to be male and female as 'incompatible with human dignity'.
The tribunal 'found that his beliefs were likely to cause offence and have the effect of violating a transgender person's dignity or creating a proscribed environment, or subjecting a transgender person to less favourable treatment'.
Which is utter round objects. All they needed to do was say 'You're free to believe whatever you want but in work time, you put on your work face and do as your employer asks'.
But there may be a get-out clause he can use:
As well as claiming religious discrimination, Dr Mackereth said no effort was made to accommodate his beliefs, such as referring transgender clients at Birmingham's Five Ways assessment centre to another doctor.
If supermarkets let Muslim checkout operators refuse to serve alcohol and bacon, and pharmacists refuse to dispense birth control pills, then they should have granted his request, shouldn't they?
