Under Equality Act 2010 employees have protection against discrimination on grounds of ‘religion or belief’. Whether or not a person’s views should be regarded as a ‘protected belief’ is often a contentious initial issue. Tribunals are guided by principles set out by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Grainger v Nicholson – principles which the EAT had to consider in a recent case involving a belief in English nationalism.
In Thomas v Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, the Claimant said that his assignment had been terminated by the Respondent because of his belief in English nationalism. As a preliminary issue, the employment tribunal considered whether his belief was a ‘protected belief’ under Equality Act 2010.
The tribunal held that, although many aspects of the Claimant’s belief in English nationalism would have been found to be protected by Equality Act 2010, his belief included anti-Islamic beliefs. He believed that there was no place in British society for Muslims or Islam itself and that Muslims should be forcibly deported from the UK. The tribunal held that his belief fell foul of the fifth criteria from Grainger v Nicholson: that the belief must be worthy of respect in a democratic society, must not be incompatible with human dignity and not conflict with the fundamental rights of others. The Claimant’s belief was not protected. The Claimant appealed.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal agreed with the tribunal. UK law had to be interpreted, insofar as possible, in accordance with the European Convention of Human Rights (the Convention). Article 17 of the Convention states that a person cannot claim the protection of the Convention where to do so would allow the performance of any act “aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms” set out in the Convention. The EAT noted that forcible deportation of Muslims from the United Kingdom would undoubtedly amount to the destruction of their Convention rights. The language used by the Claimant fell within the grave forms of “hate speech” which are not protected under Equality Act 2010.
The EAT held that, whilst the threshold for protection under the Convention, and therefore under Equality Act 2010, is low, the tribunal was right to find that the Claimant’s beliefs did not pass that threshold.
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