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Religion or belief discrimination
Widespread environmental protests, such as the Extinction Rebellion, are having an increasing everyday impact on employers. We round up potential issues for HR professionals who are dealing with disruption to their employer's operations as a result of climate change protests.
In Gray v Mulberry Company (Design) Ltd, the Court of Appeal held that the employee's refusal to sign a copyright agreement was not due to any philosophical belief, but to her wish to achieve greater protection for her own creative work.
In Conisbee v Crossley Farms Ltd and others, an employment tribunal held that vegetarianism is not a "philosophical belief" under the Equality Act 2010. However, the tribunal suggested that veganism is more likely to be protected under the Act.
In Page v NHS Trust Development Authority, the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld an employment tribunal decision that there was no religious discrimination where a non-executive director was suspended after voicing his opposition to same-sex couple adoption in the media.
In The City of Oxford Bus Services Ltd t/a Oxford Bus Company v Harvey, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that, when deciding if an employer's working arrangements are justified, the tribunal must focus on justifying the rule in the particular circumstances of the business, rather than the application of the rule to the individual.
In Gan Menachem Hendon Ltd v De Groen, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that a claim of direct religious discrimination cannot be sustained simply on the basis that an employer acted in the way it did because of its own religious beliefs.
In Lee v Ashers Baking Co Ltd and others, the Supreme Court held that a Christian bakery did not commit direct sexual orientation discrimination in the provision of goods and services when it refused to fulfil a cake order with a message in support of same-sex marriage.
In Gray v Mulberry Company (Design) Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that a tribunal had been entitled to conclude, on the particular facts, that a belief in the importance of copyright ownership lacked sufficient cogency to qualify as a philosophical belief.
In Bakkali v Greater Manchester Buses (South) Ltd t/a Stage Coach Manchester, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that asking a Muslim employee whether or not he supported IS did not amount to harassment because, given the context, the offending comment was not "related to" his religious belief or race.
In Achbita and another v G4S Secure Solutions [2017] IRLR 466 ECJ, the ECJ held that an employer's rule prohibiting employees from wearing any visible signs of belief, including the hijab, did not amount to direct discrimination.
HR and legal information and guidance relating to religion or belief discrimination.