Religion or belief discrimination

New and updated

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Labour Party activist's "democratic socialist" views are philosophical belief under Equality Act 2010

  This employment tribunal held that the belief in "democratic socialism" held by a dismissed jobcentre worker who has long been politically active with the Labour Party is a "philosophical belief" under the Equality Act 2010.

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Religion or belief discrimination: Christian care worker who refused to work on Sundays loses appeal

  The Court of Appeal has found that the employment tribunal was correct to reject the indirect religion or belief discrimination claim brought by a Christian care worker who resigned after a dispute with her employer over her refusal to work on Sundays.

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Sexual orientation discrimination: Christian B&B owners' refusal of double-bedded room for civil partners not justified

  The Supreme Court has held that the owners of a bed and breakfast, whose religious beliefs include that sexual relations outside heterosexual marriage are sinful, could not justify their refusal to give civil partners a room with a double bed, in this important discrimination case on the conflict between sexual orientation laws and the right to manifest religious beliefs.

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Religion or belief discrimination: "Wiccan" mocked and later dismissed after Halloween shift changes

  A "Wiccan" who claimed that she was mocked and later dismissed after switching her shifts to celebrate All Hallows' Eve has won a religion or belief discrimination claim, in what may be the first successful case of its kind in UK employment law.

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Case round-up

  James Buckle, Gerri Hurst, Joelle Parkinson, Chris McAvoy and Helen Samuel are associate solicitors at Addleshaw Goddard LLP. They round up the latest rulings.

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Former teacher's anti-Semitic views not philosophical belief under Equality Act 2010

  This employment tribunal found that the Equality Act 2010 does not protect a claimant who believes that "the Jewish religion's professed belief in Jews being 'God's chosen people' is at odds with a meritocratic and multicultural society".

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Safety-related questions in job interview about Muslim woman's religious dress were not discriminatory

  This employment tribunal considered whether or not it was discrimination for a manager with health and safety concerns to ask a Muslim interviewee about her unusually long religious dress.

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Religion or belief discrimination: Context of remark is important in assessing whether or not it constituted harassment

  In Heafield v Times Newspaper Ltd EAT/1305/12, the EAT held that there was no harassment based on religion or belief when an employee took offence at a colleague's comment using an expletive when referring to the Pope. In the context in which the remark was made, it could not reasonably be viewed as sufficiently offensive to amount to harassment.

• Type:

  FAQs

  Can an employee be dismissed for being a member of an extreme political party?

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Religion or belief discrimination: Christian telesales agent alleges dismissal for refusal to lie to customers

  This employment tribunal held that a Christian telesales agent's belief that potential customers should not be deceived to obtain sales could be protected under the Equality Act 2010. However, the claimant lost his case because he did not present sufficient evidence that his former employer had required him to lie to potential customers.