John Smith wrote on Jul 4^th, 2019 at 6:18pm:


By expressing his religious beliefs. Now that we have moved passed your little lie, can you give a straight answer?

Do they have the right to fire people for expressing their religious beliefs?

The fact is that Folau holds a repugnant view about humanity and frankly he deserves to be fired.

Imagine the outcry

Employment contract

No LGBTIQSELFISH comments , relationships or participation from any employee.

Engage in any of these perverted activities will result in immediate termination.

You have been warned.

Auggie wrote on Jul 5^th, 2019 at 8:00am:


Especially if said employer has that code of conduct specified in a clause in the contract that the employee signed.

freediver wrote on Jul 4^th, 2019 at 5:39pm:


This is my take based on the sequence of events as I understand them:

- Folau signed a contract that included a clause that all players must, quote "treat everyone equally, fairly and with dignity regardless of gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, cultural or religious background, age or disability."

- Folau posted a tweet in 2017 saying that gays are going to hell unless they repent.

- RA approached Folau and informed him that such a tweet is breaching his contract - although they took no disciplinary action

- 2 years later, Folau posts another tweet in which he not only said gays were destined for hell, but associated them with liars, drunks and thieves

- RA then terminate his contract

In my view, stating that a section of our community are sinners and are destined to hell, is not "treating everyone equally, fairly and with dignity" - but in any case, this is what RA decided, and surely they are the ones who get to choose the interpretation of their own contract clause? Either way, Folau new after the first tweet that it was deemed by RA a breach - whether he agreed or not - and so he was given plenty of forewarning that another tweet would not be tolerated. Yet he went and did it anyway.

I don't claim to be an expert on contract law, but this to me passes the pub test for rightful/lawful dismissal.

freediver wrote on Jul 5^th, 2019 at 12:31pm:


Why? If its procedurally fair to fire him for his religious views, then how is it "beside the point when it comes to whether RA are allowed to fire him for his religious views"? I must be missing something.


freediver wrote on Jul 5^th, 2019 at 12:31pm:


I don't agree with your slippery slope argument in this case. If RA had taken far too generous liberties in how they interpreted "treat everyone equally, fairly and with dignity regardless of... sexual orientation", then you might have a point. The fact is though, Folau literally smeared gays as being equivalent to liars, thieves and drunks, who are all condemned.

I also would think that RA would be justified in firing a muslim player who tweeted that jews are a mindless collective - on exactly the same grounds.

freediver wrote on Jul 5^th, 2019 at 2:06pm:


Its nothing like that - unless you are seriously suggesting not being able to smear gays as sinners who need to repent is morally equivalent to being allowed to rape someone.

freediver wrote on Jul 5^th, 2019 at 2:06pm:


And what is wrong with an employer insisting that an employee is not allowed to smear jews as a mindless collective on social media?

Why do you have a problem with RA's right to dictate the conditions of their employment?

Why do you insist that Folau has some God-given right to be employed by RA?