(Religion or Belief Discrimination) The Employment Tribunal did not err in dismissing claims that the application of the Respondent’s Disciplinary and Equality of Treatment Policies, the first and second Provisions, Criteria or Practices, to the Claimant, a Pentecostal Christian, for quoting in a service in a prison holding a large number of sex offenders a passage from the Bible condemning certain sexual behaviour and speaking of repentance did not constitute indirect religious discrimination. The ET did not err in considering whether the first and second PCPs led to ‘any group disadvantage’. Mba v Merton London Borough Council [2014] 1 WLR 1501 per Elias LJ paragraphs 33 and 35 applied. In any event the ET were not satisfied either that the Claimant as a Christian was disadvantaged by the two PCPs or that other Christians whether ‘singly or as a group’ were disadvantaged. Eweida v United Kingdom [2013] IRLR 231 considered.
Further the ET did not err in holding that any restriction on the expression of the Claimant’s religious belief by the application of the Disciplinary and Equalities Policies was a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aim of maintaining order and safety in the prison.
Judges:
Slade DBE J
Citations:
[2017] UKEAT 0304 – 16 – 0108
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Employment, Discrimination
Updated: 28 March 2022; Ref: scu.592680