Water company employee claims he was fired for calling Hamas ‘terrorists’
Damon Joshua told he had caused 'significant offence' on Severn Trent Water's internal staff platform
A sewage worker claims he was fired for calling terror group Hamas “a group of violent and disgusting terrorists” on his company’s intranet.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Damon Joshua was dismissed from his role as a maintenance engineer at Severn Trent Water for his remarks on the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas atrocities.
Against the backdrop of an image of the flag of Israel, Joshua wrote: “One year ago, our valued partners and friends, Israel, were horrifically attacked by a group of violent and disgusting terrorists. I can say with confidence today that the vast majority of STW’s employees stand in solidarity with our Jewish, Israeli and Zionist colleagues against the evil of Islamist terror.”
Following internal complaints that “the terminology being used includes very derogatory words” and “is very one-sided”, the post was taken down in a matter of hours by management.
Joshua was suspended at a disciplinary hearing and later dismissed from his job without notice.
Speaking to the newspaper he said: “People had complained, and they told me it was offensive, but I got no further details for months after I was suspended. They used the word ‘derogatory’ for the words I had used to describe a terrorist organisation, which shocked me. How could it be one-sided or derogatory to oppose a terrorist. Surely this is only one-sided.”
Joshua was told three members of staff had complained and that his language “caused offence to employees with different perspectives, particularly those with Muslim and Palestinian backgrounds”.
One complainant against Joshua said the post “reflects poorly on Severn Trent’s reputation as a diverse and inclusive company.”
Disputing the allegations, Severn Trent Water have claimed this is “not the whole story nor an isolated incident”, adding that this is a “complex employee relations case” and it’s important “to be clear that this is not the whole story nor an isolated incident.”
Dr Ben Jones, director of case management at the Free Speech Union, who represented Damon Joshua, said: “We’ve dealt with 3,500 cases but the facts of Damon’s are particularly shocking. Sacking somebody for condemning Hamas is one of the most egregious cases of cancel culture we’ve seen.”
A Severn Trent spokesperson told Jewish News: “As an apolitical organisation the inference that we support any side in any situation is categorically untrue – we reject this suggestion in the strongest possible terms, and it is a fact that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation by the UK Government.
“The allegations in the Telegraph are not the whole story nor is it an isolated incident. This relates to the conduct of an individual who posted highly charged content on a range of topics from gender to sexuality to race in an online work platform – having previously being warned this wasn’t the appropriate forum to do so.
“How we treat each other is always a priority, we have a strong culture of inclusion including celebrating Judaism and Jewish festivals. Commentary to purposefully illicit a response hampers our ability to do our jobs, it was the means of expression that was the reason for the disciplinary action not the opinions or beliefs.”
Expressing support for Hamas is illegal in the UK, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
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