Court of Appeal adopts intervener’s submissions in Higgs v Farmor’s School and upholds guidance provided by the EAT in landmark case of manifestation of religion and belief – Cloisters Chambers

‘The Court of Appeal has today upheld the guidance provided by the EAT, that was proposed by Sarah Fraser Butlin KC for the Archbishops’ Council, in a major decision concerning the question of how courts and tribunals should approach religious or philosophical belief discrimination cases concerning the manifestation of belief – when people are treated less favourably because they have done or said something expressing their protected beliefs. The guidance will be of real practical assistance to employers and employees.’

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Cloisters Chambers, 12th February 2025

Source: www.cloisters.com

School employee wins Court of Appeal battle over dismissal for Facebook posts on teaching of “gender fluidity” – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal from a Christian school employee who was dismissed because she posted messages on her personal Facebook account opposing the teaching in schools, and in particular primary schools, of “gender fluidity” and that same-sex marriage is equivalent to marriage between a man and a woman.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 12th February 2025

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Religious hate crimes at record levels in England and Wales, official figures show – The Guardian

Posted October 11th, 2024 in hate crime, Islam, Israel, Judaism, news, religious discrimination, statistics, war by sally

‘Religious hate crimes in England and Wales have soared by 25% to record levels, coinciding with the Israel-Hamas conflict, government statistics show.’

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The Guardian, 10th October 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Met officer sacked over antisemitic comments – BBC News

‘A constable in the Metropolitan Police has been dismissed for using antisemitic language at work.’

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BBC News, 9th September 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Lloyds Bank sued for discrimination by employees disciplined over pro-Palestine views – The Independent

Posted July 16th, 2024 in disciplinary procedures, employment, news, religious discrimination by tracey

‘Two Muslim women are suing one of the UK’s biggest banks for discrimination after being disciplined for posting pro-Palestine messages in an internal work forum for Muslim staff.’

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The Independent, 15th July 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Navigating belief, discrimination, employment and professional ethics: Ngole – Law & Religion UK

‘Readers with long memories may recall that when Felix Ngole was a second-year Master’s student on a social work course at Sheffield University, he was excluded from the course by the Faculty of Social Sciences Fitness to Practise Committee after comments he had posted on Facebook about his personal opposition to same-sex marriage. He sought judicial review of that decision, and though the Administrative Court found for the University, in R (Ngole) v The University of Sheffield [2019] EWCA Civ 1127 the Court of Appeal allowed his appeal and remitted his case for reconsideration. We noted the appeal here.’

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Law & Religion UK, 2nd July 2024

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

R v Michaela Community Schools Trust: Human Rights and Freedom of Religion in the UK – Oxford Human Rights Hub

‘The relationship between Islam, religious freedom, and human rights has long been a subject of debate in Britain. However, the significance of the latest instalment in this saga, the judgment of R v Michaela Community Schools Trust, lies not in Islam’s relationship with secularism or human rights but instead in illustrating the incoherence of British ideas on freedom of religion.’

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Oxford Human Rights Hub, 16th May 2024

Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk

Banning prayer in school: a lawful interference?- UK Human Rights Blog

‘The case of R (TTT) v Michaela Community Schools Trust [2024] EWHC 843 (Admin) in the High Court before Mr Justice Linden concerned a claim brought by a pupil referred to as a TTT (“the Claimant”) against the Michaela Community Schools Trust; (“the School”). The School is a secular secondary free school in the London Borough of Brent, which appeared as an interested party. The School is ethnically and religiously diverse, although over half of the pupils, including the Claimant are Muslims.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 15th May 2024

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

In a high-profile ruling, the High Court has rejected a legal challenge to a school prayer ban. Philip Wood explains why – Local Government Lawyer

Posted May 14th, 2024 in equality, human rights, news, religious discrimination, school children by tracey

‘The High Court has dismissed a challenge from a pupil at the Michaela Community School, a secondary school in Wembley, London, who argued that a ban on prayer in the school was a breach of the Equality Act as well as her Human Rights. There was also a related challenge to two suspensions that the pupil had received on the basis that they were not procedurally fair.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 10th May 2024

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Navigating housing rights, education and religious freedom: Ghaoui – Law & Religion UK

‘In Ghaoui v London Borough of Waltham Forest [2024] EWCA Civ 405, Mr Ghaoui, his wife and two young children lived in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. They were rendered homeless in April 2019 and Mr Ghaoui applied to the local authority for assistance with accommodation. In September 2019, he sent his older child to a fee-paying Muslim nursery in Waltham Forest [2]. The family was evicted in March 2020 and Waltham Forest LBC provided temporary accommodation in the Harlow area, some 20 miles from their previous address, which made it harder for the parents to get to work in London and for the child to go to the nursery [3]. In early September 2022, the younger child entered the same nursery [5]. Mr Ghaoui argued that in offering them accommodation 20 miles from the school, Waltham Forest was “not considering their rights”, while Waltham Forest explained at some length that it was not under any legal duty to provide accommodation that allowed the children to attend a specific religious school: in short, it was not a housing “need” [6]. The point at issue was whether or not the local authority was, in fact, under any such obligation.’

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Law & Religion UK, 1st May 2024

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

Say a prayer for Article 9? R (on the Application of TTT) v Michaela School and the question of interference – Law & Religion UK

‘The media reports of the last few months highlight how controversial and charged the decision in R (on the Application of TTT) v Michaela School [2024] EWHC 843 (Admin) is. There is much to unpack and debate about the High Court’s 83-page judgment, not least how the secular approach held to be lawful in the judgment sits with a legal framework that continues to favour Christianity in terms of laws on collective worship and the teaching of religion in school.’

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Law & Religion UK, 19th April 2024

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

Banning ritual prayers in school: Michaela Schools Trust – Law & Religion UK

‘In R (TTT, by her mother and litigation friend UUU) v Michaela Community Schools Trust & Anor [2024] EWHC 842 (Admin), the school’s governing body decided in 2023 to prohibit its pupils from performing prayer rituals on its premises after the Headteacher had banned them as an interim measure. That policy applied to all prayer rituals, regardless of religion, but there was no evidence that pupils of any religion other than Islam wished to perform prayer rituals during the school day. Muslims are required to pray five times a day. The claimant, a Muslim, accepted that the requirements of the school day meant that she would not always be able to fulfil that obligation during the appropriate period; however, she wished to be allowed to perform the midday prayer [Duhr], which during the autumn and winter months would be possible during the school lunch break – which, she argued, was “free time”.’

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Law & Religion UK, 17th April 2024

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

High court upholds top London school’s ban on prayer rituals – The Guardian

Posted April 17th, 2024 in equality, human rights, Islam, news, religious discrimination, school children by sally

‘A high court decision to uphold a prayer ban at one of the highest performing state schools in England has been welcomed by Rishi Sunak and Kemi Badenoch, who described it as a “victory against activists trying to subvert our public institutions”.’

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The Guardian, 16th April 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

“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