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BA worker loses appeal to wear cross


A Christian check-in worker at British Airways who was told she could not openly wear a cross, lost an appeal against the decision yesterday. Nadia Eweida, 55, has been on unpaid leave from her job at Heathrow Airport since being told she could not have the small cross on show over her uniform last month. She appealed, arguing that people from other faiths were allowed to wear turbans and the hijab at the airline. A BA spokesman said there was no ban on religious jewellery, but it had to be hidden from view, explaining that some other items of religious dress were permitted, because it was not practical for turbans and hijabs to be worn underneath the uniform. The company said Miss Eweida has been offered a non-uniformed job where she could wear a cross, but she had turned this down. Ms Eweida said she did not want to hide the cross because "Jesus has to be glorified". She added: "I am not politically motivated or minded, I just follow the Biblical truth." The Anglican Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu has urged BA to reconsider its decision. He said the ruling - allowing male Sikh staff to wear turbans and female Muslim staff to wear hijabs, as they cannot be worn under a uniform - was "nonsense". He said: "British Airways needs to look again at this decision and to look at the history of the country it represents, whose culture, laws, heritage and tradition owes so much to the very same symbol it would ban."

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