Hearing today over TV sports anchor who was fired after backing true marriage

by Thaddeus Baklinski

TORONTO, May 4, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The mediation hearing of former TV sports anchor Damian Goddard, who was fired by Rogers Sportsnet last May after tweeting his support for true marriage, and who subsequently launched a human rights complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, is taking place today at the CHRC office in Toronto.

“I just got off the phone with my lawyer. We’ll meet at his offices in downtown Toronto, and then make our way down the road to sit at a table across from the very people who fired me almost a year ago. I feel good. I feel very good,” Mr. Goddard posted on Facebook in anticipation of the meeting.

“Almost a year has passed since I was terminated after tweeting in defence of traditional and TRUE marriage,” Goddard remarked. “The Canadian Human Rights Commission will attempt to mediate a settlement between myself and Rogers Communications Inc. It looks and feels every bit like a David vs. Goliath scenario. If mediation isn’t achieved, then my case will go to a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. If that fails, it will go to a Public Hearing.”

The former host of Connected had tweeted his support of Burlington hockey agent Todd Reynolds, who created a stir when he criticized New York Rangers hockey star Sean Avery for shooting a TV ad backing gay “marriage.”

“I completely and wholeheartedly support Todd Reynolds and his support for the traditional and TRUE meaning of marriage,” Goddard tweeted on May 10, 2011. He also voiced support for U.S. Olympic gold medalist Peter Vidmar, who resigned as chef de mission for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team after homosexual activists created a controversy over his support for true marriage.

Sportsnet immediately distanced themselves from Goddard’s comments on their own Twitter account, and then announced that Goddard had been fired without specifying the reasons.

“Mr. Goddard was a freelance contractor and in recent weeks it had become clear that he is not the right fit for our organization,” said Sportsnet spokesman Dave Rashford in a statement issued right after Goddard was sacked.

“While Rogers has argued that I was not the right fit for the organization, the truth of the matter is that just a week before my dismissal I was given a ringing endorsement for the job I had done up to that point,” Goddard told LifeSiteNews last June.

“My message to the millions of Canadians participating in social media is that ‘this can happen to you’,” Goddard said in an official statement following his dismissal.  “I was terminated 24 hours after expressing a widely-held opinion from my personal Twitter account - an opinion consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church. And an opinion that is supposed to be protected by Canada’s constitution.”

Goddard launched the human rights complaint against Rogers in June 2011, contending that the case affects all Canadians with deeply-held religious views.

“We are in very curious times, friends,” Mr. Goddard observed to his supporters on Facebook. “Strange days, indeed.”

“In the US, the HHS mandate is a hot-button topic. In Ontario, Bill 13 detractors continue to make their voice heard. I have my own little battle. Mere optics on these issues dictate that the Catholic Church is in the cross-hairs. Lord, give me strength… give us all strength in our continuing battle for Truth,” Mr. Goddard concluded.