Here is another case about how far doing your God’s bidding in the workplace protects you from disciplinary action by your employer or, put more prosaically, about the relationship between the unfair dismissal regime and your rights to freedom of religion under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.… Continue Reading
Ostensibly the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s decision in Bakkali –v- Greater Manchester Buses last week is a faintly technical one about how the required connection with a personal characteristic protected under the Equality Act differs between direct discrimination and harassment.… Continue Reading
“Bosses can ban burkas, scarves, crosses” shouts the front page of last Tuesday’s Metro, followed by a commentary far too short to explain that this is almost always untrue. This is the resurrection of an old debate concerning the extent of your right to manifest your religion at work through how you dress. When last … Continue Reading
Over a month off in Sardinia in August each year with your family sounds the way to go, doesn’t it? Something you could really look forward to, but would probably not really expect your employer to grant you as a matter of right, I suspect. One Mr Gareddu disagreed. He claimed that those five weeks … Continue Reading
The vexed question of an employee’s right to manifest his religion in the workplace has twice raised its head in the EU courts in recent months. Employers seeking a definitive steer on the question should look away now. Both cases deal with similar facts and contain exhaustive reviews of relevant considerations and authorities, and then … Continue Reading
Some cases just make you uneasy. This is one of them. It revolves around a Mrs Pendleton who was faced for reasons which are not strictly relevant with the requirement by her employer that she either divorce her husband or lose her job. OK then, not strictly relevant but sufficiently unusual to warrant a little … Continue Reading
Does really just anything count as a philosophical belief these days? An impression you could reasonably take away from the headlines in the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s decision in Harron –v- Chief Constable of Dorset Police last week but happily not one completely borne out by closer reading. Mr Harron considered himself to have been discriminated … Continue Reading
It is not easy to reduce the Charlie Hebdo murders to employment law, but courtesy of one Aysh Chaudhry, here goes anyway. Mr Chaudhry, a trainee at international law firm Clifford Chance, filmed a twenty-one minute video message within days after the killings in France. It is widely available on YouTube if you really want, … Continue Reading
With the excesses of the Festive Season now depressingly far behind us, M&S bosses may be wondering whether public memories have begun to fade about the outcry that arose following the store’s initial decision (and then swift apology) to allow Muslim shop assistants to refuse to serve pork and alcohol to customers. Certainly, in the … Continue Reading
More enforcement concerns loom for the Affordable Care Act as another federal decision keeps employers under a religious group plan from swallowing the pill of providing complete contraceptive coverage to its female employees. In Reaching Souls International Inc. et al. v. Sebelius et al., Case No. CIV-13-1092-D, the plaintiffs provided employees with a group health … Continue Reading
It was reported in the UK press just before Christmas that Marks and Spencer was forced to apologise to a customer after a Muslim employee refused to handle alcohol and so declined, politely and apologetically, to serve a customer trying to buy a bottle of champagne. This issue caused a bit of a Twitter storm, … Continue Reading
In the world of work in the UK there have been many decided cases and much official guidance to employers to the collective effect that if they respect the third of Mr Butler’s list, the Employment Tribunal will let them keep the other two. So why the uproar around Marks & Spencer last week, given … Continue Reading
Hats off for a striking own-goal scored by Premiership Footballer Papiss Cisse in his dispute with Newcastle United FC (see our post of 15 July – Football Strip Adds Interest to Debate). To re-cap, Cisse has refused to wear Newcastle’s usual strip because the activities of its shirt sponsor, Wonga, offend Sharia and Islamic principles … Continue Reading
“Druids, vegans and green activists should be given special treatment at work, according to “lunatic” advice from the Equalities Watchdog”. Guess the newspaper? Under the blaring headline “What an insult to Christians!”, the Daily Mail swaggered back into the workplace arena earlier this week with a searing and almost wholly misleading indictment of the Equalities … Continue Reading
The EHRC has responded to the recent “crucifix cases” with some new guidance on religion or belief in the workplace. This is a brave attempt to reduce into nine pages of large font print the infinitely varied factual issues which can arise where an employee seeks some accommodation from his employer for his religion or … Continue Reading
Title VII protects employees from discrimination based on their protected class which includes religion. As such, employers are required to accommodate an employee’s religious observances as long as such accommodation does not cause an undue hardship for the employer. In determining undue hardship, the United States Supreme Court has found [pdf] that accommodations requiring more than … Continue Reading
So there it is – British Airways employee, Ms Eweida wins a heavily-qualified right to manifest her Christianity at work in limited circumstances. All her co-appellants to the ECJ fail in similar claims. Do see our other post today for a little legal analysis on this, but in the meantime, where does the decision take … Continue Reading
The long running battle of the four test cases for religious discrimination at work staggered to a rather limp climax at the European Court of Human Rights this week. Though the London Evening Standard headline yesterday shouts “Workers Win The Right to Wear a Cross”, it should more accurately be “A Worker Wins the Right … Continue Reading
The EAT ruled last week on whether an employer should have accommodated a Christian employee’s request to not work on Sundays. It is easy to conclude that it held that Christians have no right to refuse to work on a Sunday as it is “not a core requirement of the faith”. However, that would be … Continue Reading
The clash between gay rights and religious beliefs reared its ugly head again in the High Court last month, with what some may find surprising consequences. Following recent case law in this area, (see this blog ‘No room at the inn for the fundamental right to discriminate’, October 13th 2012), employers could be forgiven for … Continue Reading
After a rare break from crass public utterances, Nick Griffin (MEP), was back on form last week, posting a controversial diatribe on Twitter about our supposed “fundamental right to discriminate.” Mr Griffin embarked on an ill-considered rant against a gay couple after they won a landmark court case against a Berkshire Bed-and-Breakfast owner for discriminating … Continue Reading
