A school worker who claims she was sacked because of her Christian beliefs has won her appeal against an employment tribunal’s decision to uphold her dismissal and faces a fresh hearing.
Kristie Higgs, 46, was dismissed for gross misconduct by Farmor’s School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2019 after sharing Facebook posts criticising plans to teach LGBT+ relationships in primary schools.
Mrs Higgs, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, took the school to an employment tribunal, arguing she had been unlawfully discriminated against because of her Christian beliefs.
The school had denied dismissing the mother of two because of her religious beliefs and said she was sacked because of the language used in the posts.
In its ruling in 2020, the tribunal concluded her religion is a “protected characteristic” as defined by the Equality Act but the school lawfully dismissed her.
Mrs Higgs appealed against that judgment to the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London, which has now ruled in her favour.
Mrs Justice Eady allowed the appeal and remitted the case back to an employment tribunal for a fresh determination.
In her judgment, she said: “First, the foundational nature of the rights must be recognised: the freedom to manifest belief (religious or otherwise) and to express views relating to that belief are essential rights in any democracy, whether or not the belief in question is popular or mainstream and even if its expression may offend.
“Those rights are, however, qualified. The manifestation of belief, and free expression, will be protected but not where the law permits the limitation or restriction of such manifestation or expression to the extent necessary for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”
Mrs Justice Eady, who is president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal, said the question for a future hearing would be whether the school’s decision to sack Mrs Higgs “were because of, or related to, the manifestation of the claimant’s protected beliefs, or were due to a justified objection to the manner of that manifestation, in respect of which there was a clear legal basis for the claimant’s rights to freedom of belief and expression to be limited to the extent necessary for the legitimate protection of the rights of others”.
“In answering that question, the employment tribunal will need to be satisfied that the measures adopted were prescribed by law and, recognising the essential nature of the claimant’s rights to freedom of belief and freedom of expression, that they were necessary (that is, proportionate) in pursuit of the protection of the rights, freedoms and reputation of others.”
Mrs Higgs, from Fairford, Gloucestershire shared and commented on posts which raised concerns about relationship education at her son’s Church of England primary school.
Pupils were to learn about the No Outsiders In Our School programme, which is a series of books teaching the Equality Act in primary schools.
Mrs Higgs, who was posting on Facebook under her maiden name, shared two posts in October 2018 to around 100 friends.
One of the posts referred to “brainwashing our children” and added: “Children will be taught that all relationships are equally valid and ‘normal’, so that same sex marriage is exactly the same as traditional marriage, and gender is a matter of choice, not biology, so that it’s up to them what sex they are.
“We say again this is a vicious form of totalitarianism aimed at suppressing Christianity and removing it from the public arena.”
An anonymous complaint was made to the school and Mrs Higgs was suspended and, after a disciplinary hearing, dismissed for gross misconduct.
Mrs Higgs welcomed the ruling but said she was “frustrated” by the delays to “receiving justice”.
“From the beginning, despite the many attempts by the school to suggest otherwise, this has always been about my Christian beliefs and me being discriminated against for expressing them in my own time,” she said.
“I will never forget the moment, shaking and tearful, that I was ordered to leave the school premises after my Christian beliefs were aligned with Nazism.
“Christian parents must have the freedom to bring their children up in line with their Christian beliefs.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “This is a win for Kristie, but Mrs Justice Eady should have had the courage to exonerate her.
“We press on in this important case. We are pleased that the force of the facts in this case meant the judge had to do the right thing.”
