“Equality laws have allowed several unlikely claims against employers on the basis that certain views are similar to religious belief. Here are a few cases which made headlines.”
Daily Telegraph, 9th March 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A short guide to the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, which have allowed a man’s views on foxhunting to be placed on a par with religious belief.”
Daily Telegraph, 9th March 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“The body which investigates complaints against judges has been accused of covering up the full extent of an investigation into Cherie Blair over her decision to hand down a lenient sentence to a convicted man because he was ‘a religious person’.”
The Independent, 21st June 2010
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Cherie Blair will not be disciplined after she was cleared over comments she made while sparing a violent offender jail.”
The Independent, 10th June 2010
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A campaign group is going to court to try to stop a council’s ‘archaic practice’ of holding prayers before meetings. The National Secular Society (NSS) has instructed a solicitor to take its battle with Bideford Town Council, in Devon, to the High Court, claiming the policy breaches human rights.”
The Independent, 28th May 2010
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The former archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, today [7th May] backed the saying of prayers before council meetings as a pressure group prepared to launch a legal battle on the issue.”
The Guardian, 7th May 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The McFarlane judgment raises fundamental questions about church and state, says Michael Nazir-Ali.”
Daily Telegraph, 30th April 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“As a lawyer, I can recognise Lord Laws’ judgment in the McFarlane case as stinging rebuke to Lord Carey.”
The Guardian, 30th April 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The former archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey today accused judges of moving towards a new ‘secular state’ that would downgrade the rights of religious believers. Attacking a ‘deeply worrying’ court ruling, Carey claimed the judiciary was now tipping the legal balance against believers in ‘a deeply unedifying collision of human rights’.”
The Guardian, 29th April 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A marriage guidance counsellor’s bid to challenge his sacking for refusing to give sex therapy to homosexuals has led to a serious clash between the Christian lobby and the judiciary.”
The Guardian, 29th April 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A worker has won almost £100,000 because his firm discriminated against his environmental views after a landmark legal ruling placed them on a par with religious beliefs.”
Daily Telegraph, 20th April 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A top judge was warned that court rulings against Christian workers risk causing ‘civil unrest’ as he heard the case of a relationship counsellor who was sacked after refusing to give sex advice to homosexual couples.”
Daily Telegraph, 15th April 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Vegans and atheists should have the same protection against discrimination as religious groups according to guidance on new equality laws proposed by Harriet Harman.”
Daily Telegraph, 7th March 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A police worker who was sacked because he believed psychics can help solve criminal investigations is to go to court today to defend his right to legal protection from religious discrimination.”
The Independent, 12th November 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Grainger plc v Nicholson UKEAT/219/09; [2009] WLR (D) 315
“An asserted philosophical belief that mankind was heading towards catastrophic climate change and therefore people were under a moral duty to lead their lives in a manner which mitigated or avoided that catastrophe for the benefit of future generations, and to persuade others to do the same, if genuinely held was capable of amounting to a ‘philosophical belief’ for the purpose of the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003.”
WLR Daily, 4th November 2009
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“A man has been told he can take his employer to tribunal on the grounds he was unfairly dismissed because of his views on climate change.”
BBC News, 3rd November 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A controversial tribunal decision that some company practices can discriminate against employees with strongly held views on climate change will be challenged in the courts.”
The Guardian, 7th September 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently gave judgment in Coleman v Attridge Law (2008). In so doing, it clarified the remit of the Framework Directive (2000/78/EC), which was adopted in November 2000 to combat discrimination in the workplace on grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.”
The Lawyer, 28th July 2008
Source: www.thelawyer.com
“Rastafarians are protected by UK laws that ban workplace discrimination on the grounds of philosophical belief. But a tidy-hair policy does not discriminate against someone with dreadlocks, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled.”
OUT-LAW.com, 18th October 2007
Source: www.out-law.com
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