A Christian woman who was a mayoral candidate in London last year has won substantial damages in an unfair discrimination lawsuit she filed after her employer fired her for airing her belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman.
Maureen Martin’s employer, London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q), fired her because of her view on marriage. She sued L&Q for unfair dismissal, as well as harassment and discrimination.
The case started in April 2022 after Martin, then a mayoral candidate of the Christian Peoples Alliance (CPA), published her campaign flyer, which had a six-point plan. One of the points was a promise to “cut through political correctness and state the truth that natural marriage between a man and a woman is the fundamental building block for a successful society, and the safest environment for raising children.”
Two days later, L&Q summoned her to an “investigation meeting,” claiming it had received three complaints about her flyer. During the meeting, she was also told that her tweets, some of which said trans women should not participate in female sports, were “homophobic and had breached L&Q’s social media policy and had potentially brought the company into disrepute.”
On Sunday, the lawsuit was settled out of court, with Martin winning a significant amount in damages.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Martin said she was pleased with the settlement but said the way she was treated was not fair.
“Much of our culture is anti-Christian and believes that biblical beliefs, especially on marriage and human sexuality, are hate speech and therefore illegal,” she said.
“It is disturbing how Christian beliefs on marriage, which have been held and expressed for thousands of years, are being silenced and treated with such hostility and disdain in this country.
“I should have had a right to express my own Christian beliefs in my own private time and should not have been required to self-censor my beliefs or be forced out of my job.
“I will be standing again as mayoral candidate in 2024. My message will not have changed. You can fire me, but you cannot silence me.”
Martin added that L&Q interrogated her Soviet-style just two weeks before the election.
