“All the world’s a stage” – or perhaps not: Omooba – Law& Religion UK

‘In Omooba v Michael Garrett Associates Ltd (t/a Global Artists) & Anor [2024] EAT 30, Ms Seyi Omooba, an actor, was cast as Celie in a stage production of The Color Purple. Celie is regarded as an iconic lesbian role and the announcement that Ms Omooba was to play it led to a social media storm about an earlier Facebook post in which she had expressed her belief that homosexuality was a sin. As a result, her contracts with the theatre (the second respondent) and her agency (the first respondent) were terminated.’

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Law & Religion UK, 7th March 2024

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

A heckler’s veto on Christian street preaching in the UK – Law & Religion UK

‘In Britain, there have been a number of incidents in which Christians have been prevented from preaching in public spaces by the police. For example, the recent incident of Pastor Dwayne Lopez in Uxbridge garnered much media attention. Pastor Lopez was asked to stop preaching by several Metropolitan Police officers because it had been reported by an individual that they found him to be offensive.’

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Law & Religion UK, 29th February 2024

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

The top five employment cases that will shape 2024 – Local Government Lawyer

‘Rebecca Denvers identifies the cases which will have a big impact on employment law and HR policies and practices over the next 12 months.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 19th January 2024

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Labour seeking to delay antisemitism leak lawsuit until after election – The Guardian

‘Labour is seeking to delay until after the general election a court case against five former staff alleging they leaked a report concerned with the party’s handling of antisemitism complaints, as its costs were said to have apparently soared to £1.4m.’

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The Guardian, 6th October 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Employment and “protected beliefs”: Higgs v Farmor’s School – Law & Religion UK

‘In Higgs v Farmor’s School [2023] EAT 89, Mrs Higgs worked as a pastoral administrator and work experience manager at Farmor’s School. Complaints were received about Facebook posts that she had made about relationship education in primary schools: in particular, she re-posted someone else’s post, heading it, “PLEASE READ THIS! THEY ARE BRAINWASHING OUR CHILDREN!” [5]. She also re-posted similar material. She accepted that her posts might have been seen by parents of pupils at Farmor’s School, though she pointed out that she had not mentioned the school itself [9].
She was suspended and, after a disciplinary investigation and an appeal, dismissed [16 & 17]. She took the school to an Employment Tribunal, arguing that her dismissal amounted either to direct discrimination because of her protected beliefs or to harassment relating to them.’

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Law & Religion UK, 20th June 2023

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

Humanist wins High Court battle over appointments to Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education – Local Government Lawyer

‘The High Court has quashed the decision of Kent County Council to refuse to consider a humanist for membership of Group A of its Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE).’

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Local Government Lawyer, 5th June 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

School chaplaincy, sermons on sexuality – and employment law: Randall – Law & Religion UK

‘Trent College is a co-educational, independent day and boarding school. It is an Anglican foundation and a registered charity [36]. Its articles of association provide that the “Objects for which the company is established are: The advancement of education of boys and girls in England, Wales or elsewhere in accordance with the Protestant and Evangelical principles of the Church of England”. The Revd Dr Bernard Randall, an Anglican priest, was employed as the College’s Chaplain. In May 2019, he delivered two sermons to the pupils about “competing ideologies” which led to his summary dismissal on 30 August 2019. On appeal, he was reinstated, subject to compliance with various management instructions. He was subsequently dismissed by reason of redundancy on 10 November 2020.’

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Law & Religion UK, 7th March 2023

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

Conversion therapy ban will be hard to police, says victim – BBC News

‘A man subjected to electric shock aversion therapy in the 1970s to stop him being gay has welcomed plans to ban conversion therapy.’

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BBC News, 5th March 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

What the latest employment tribunal statistics reveal – Mills & Reeve

‘The Government published the latest quarterly and annual statistics last month. We explore what they reveal about the volume of claims and levels of compensation.’

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Mills & Reeve, 4th January 2023

Source: www.mills-reeve.com

No jab no job: 5 care home workers dismissed for not taking the vaccine – Lamb Chambers

‘In Dimitrova et Ors v Barchester Healthcare Ltd ET 1803315/2021, 5 care home workers brought claims against Barchester Healthcare Ltd, the second largest provider of care home services in the UK. These 5 Claimants were heard in the first tranche of several other claims. They all brought claims of unfair dismissal and two brought claims of direct/indirect religion/belief discrimination. Another Claimant brought a belief related harassment claim.’

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Lamb Chambers, December 2022

Source: www.lambchambers.co.uk

Alleged Islamophobia in misconduct proceedings: El Diwany – Law & Religion UK

‘Mr Farid El Diwany was twice convicted in Norway of harassment [16] and, in consequence, was struck off the Roll of Solicitors [16(ix)]. In El Diwany v Solicitors Regulation Authority Ltd [2022] EWHC 2882 (Admin), he appealed against an order of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (“the SDT”) dated 18 November 2021 refusing his application to be restored to the Roll [1].’

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Law & Religion UK, 16th November 2022

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

Government drops plan to combat anti-Muslim hatred with official definition of Islamophobia – The Independent

‘The government has dropped work on an official definition of Islamophobia that was promised more than three years ago, amid mounting concern over inaction on the issue.’

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The Independent, 30th October 2022

Source: www.independent.co.uk

No duty owed to taxi driver – Local Government Lawyer

‘A council has won an appeal in the High Court in a psychiatric injury claim brought by a taxi driver. David Green explains why.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 7th October 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Christian group brings discrimination case against Cambridge college – BBC News

‘A Christian campaign group is taking legal action against a Cambridge University college after an event booking was rejected.’

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BBC News, 15th September 2022

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Research Briefing: Commonwealth and Human Rights Research Briefing Published Tuesday, 30 August, 2022 – House of Commons Library

‘Describes the Commonwealth’s work on human rights and the issues it seeks to address, such as the economic empowerment of women and preventing modern slavery.’

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House of Commons Library , 30th August 2022

Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk

Employment, freedom of speech and Evangelical views on sexuality: Walters – Law & Religion UK

‘In Rev Keith Walters v The Active Learning Trust Ltd & Anor [2022] UKET 3324619/2019 the claimant, the minister of an independent Evangelical congregation, supported himself by working as full-time caretaker at the Isle of Ely Primary School [34]. When the dispute arose, the parties agreed that Mr Walters believed that his role as a minister took precedence over his employment and that there might be times when he would need to be released from school to fulfil his ministerial duties such as funerals [37]. The Trust, however, disputed his contention that it had been agreed that, so long as he was present at the start and end of the day, there was no issue with how he spent his time and, further, that he reserved his right to be “unequivocal in publicly stating the Christian doctrine on various issues, some of which may be unpopular” [38]. The ET accepted that there was an agreement to be flexible but did not accept that Mr Walters was either free to do what he wanted during work time or had carte blanche to make public statements against the school’s policies [39]. Further, he had agreed to the Trust’s policies and procedures, including the staff Code of Conduct [40 & 41].’

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Law & Religion UK, 29th August 2022

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

Labour MP unfairly sacked senior adviser who called him ‘first class idiot’, tribunal finds – The Independent

‘A Labour MP unfairly dismissed his aide and ex-girlfriend after she felt “marginalised and isolated” in the months leading up to her losing her job, a tribunal has found.’

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The Independent, 3rd August 2022

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Crucifixes, neck-chains and food hygiene: Kovalkovs – Law & Religion UK

‘In Mr J Kovalkovs v 2 Sisters Food Group Limited [2022] UKET 4102454/2020, Mr Kovalkovs, an Orthodox Christian, was a quality inspector in 2 Sisters Food Group’s chicken processing factory. He wore a silver crucifix on a neck-chain as an expression of his faith. 2 Sisters’ Foreign Body Control policy stated that “jewellery must not be worn in the production areas on site, with the exception of a single plan band ring”. An exception was made for religious jewellery, subject to a risk assessment; however, the risk assessment concluded that “because the chain was made of links there was a risk of contamination” and there was a potential for “entanglement, entrapment or tearing”. Mr Kovalkovs refused to give up wearing his crucifix and was dismissed.’

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Law & Religion UK, 21st June 2022

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

Ali v Heathrow Express Operating Company Ltd & Anor – Equality Law Blog

‘This decision is a reminder that, where unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic is not intended to offend, intimidate, etc, an objective test applies to the question whether conduct amounts to harassment. The claimant was a Muslim employee of Heathrow Express. He complained of harassment and direct discrimination connected with religion after receiving an email concerning a security test carried out by the second respondent, which was responsible for carrying out security checks at Heathrow Airport and Heathrow Express stations at the airport. The test in question had involved a bag containing a box, some electric cabling and, visible at the top, a piece of paper with the words “Allahu Akbar” written in Arabic. The email reporting on the results of the test and included images of the bag and the note.’

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Equality Law Blog, 24th May 2022

Source: equalitylawblog.com

Harassment in employment?: Ali v Heathrow Express – Law & Religion UK

‘Anis Ali, a Muslim, worked for the Heathrow Express which was at the relevant time run by the first respondent, Heathrow Express Operating Company Ltd. The second respondent, Redline Assured Security Ltd, was responsible for carrying out security checks at the airport and the Heathrow Express stations. The checks involved creating and leaving suspicious objects to test how security officers responded to them, and in August 2017 it carried out a test using a bag containing a box, some electric cable and, visible at the top, a piece of paper with the words “Allahu Akbar” written in Arabic. Subsequently, the Operating Company sent an e-mail reporting on the results of the test and including images of the bag and the note to a group of employees – including Mr Ali.’

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Law & Religion UK, 19th April 2022

Source: lawandreligionuk.com