UK: Balancing Protected Beliefs

At a Glance

We look at the evolving state of protected belief discrimination in the recent UK Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) case of Ngole v. Touchstone Leeds, which offers employers further guidance on the appropriate analysis in manifestation of belief cases following last year's Court of Appeal decision in Higgs v. Farmor's School.

The Legal Framework: Manifestation of Belief After Higgs

In Higgs v. Farmor's School, the Court of Appeal clarified how tribunals should analyse employer action in response to an employee's manifestation of belief in direct discrimination cases (see our previous article here).

It held that an employer cannot dismiss or otherwise disadvantage someone simply because they have expressed a protected belief that the employer (or others) find unpalatable. If the action is taken because of the belief itself, it amounts to unlawful direct discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.