Discrimination: Religion and belief discrimination
Authors: James Major, Corinna Harris, Sophie Jackson, and Charlotte Stern
The EAT has found that the dismissal of a university professor for comments expressing his anti-Zionist philosophical beliefs amounted to direct discrimination because of his protected belief.
Dr Miller, who was a Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bristol, believes political Zionism is inherently racist, imperialistic and colonial, and therefore that political Zionism should be opposed. After several complaints were made about the expression of his views about Zionism, which included comments made to students and student societies, he was dismissed following a disciplinary process. He brought claims including for unfair dismissal and philosophical belief discrimination.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld the Employment Tribunal’s decision that Dr Miller’s anti-Zionist beliefs qualified as protected philosophical beliefs under the Equality Act 2010. The EAT also found that where an employee’s non-objectionable expression of a protected belief forms a material part of the reason for disciplinary action, the employer will not be able to justify that action by pointing to other conduct that was an objectionable manifestation of their belief, and may have warranted disciplinary action.
Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-house Counsel
From the outset, employers should identify whether their concerns relate to the employee’s protected belief itself or the objectionable manifestation of that belief. Any disciplinary action should be based on genuinely objectionable conduct and not the fact that the employee holds or manifests the protected belief.
