A British nurse was fired from the hospital for refusing to remove or hide her cross necklace, and recently took legal action against her previous workplace.

Mary Onuoha, who has been working at Croydon University Hospital in Thornton Heath, England since 2002, has faced increasing pressure in recent years to remove her cross necklace from the hospital administration. Removed.

According to the International Christian Care Organization, Onoha said: "This has always been an attack on my faith." "My cross has been with me for 40 years. This is part of my faith and me, and it has never caused anyone Any harm."

Onuoha became a nurse after her brother died due to lack of medical care. She moved from Nigeria to the UK in 1988 to pursue a career in the medical field.

During the whole process of working in the hospital, she wore a pure gold cross around her neck. She said that neither hospital staff nor patients complained about this. Onuoha shared that when the patient did say something to the necklace, he was always very positive.

"Patients often say to me,'I really like your cross.' They always respond to it in a positive way, which gives me happiness and makes me feel happy," Onoha said. "I am proud to wear it because I know that God loves me very much and has experienced this pain for me."

However, in 2015, the situation changed and the hospital management asked Onoha to remove or conceal her cross on the grounds of safety issues. In turn, Onu'aha refused, noting that nurses of other religions were never asked to take off necklaces, bracelets or loose clothes.

"In this hospital, there are staff members who go to the mosque four times a day, but no one says anything to them," she pointed out. "Hindus wear red bracelets on their wrists and female Muslims wear headscarves in the theater. However, the small cross on my neck was considered so dangerous that I was no longer allowed to do my work."

But pressure from hospital management continues to increase. In 2018, during an operation supervised by Onuaha, a hospital manager told the Christian nurse to hide her cross or remove it, and she refused to do so.

"I am surprised that senior staff are prepared to threaten the patient's life in order to intimidate me to remove it," Onoha said.

In addition, she pointed out that the anesthesiologist in the same operation wore a blue pendant and earrings, but was never asked to do so.

Later that year, Onoha was demoted from the position of nurse to receptionist, and hospital management warned that if she did not hide or remove her cross necklace, an internal investigation would be conducted. In June 2020, Onuaha was forced to take a "stress leave" due to increasing pressure from the management.

"From a very young age, I naturally wanted to care about people-this is my blood. All I wanted was to be a nurse and be loyal to my beliefs. I am a strong woman, but I am regarded as Treated by criminals," she argued. "I love my job, but I am not prepared to compromise my beliefs for this, nor should other Christian [National Health Service] workers in this country do the same."

Last week, Onuha appeared in the Croydon Employment Court on October 5 and filed a lawsuit against the hospital. She is represented by Christian Concern, a British religious freedom organization.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/C Cahill

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer. He is also the co-host of the For Your Soul podcast, which aims to equip the church with biblical truth and sound doctrine. Blessed people who visit his blog are forgiven.