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Religion or belief

This topic contains all articles and case reports dealing with discrimination on the grounds of Religion or Belief. They are shown in reverse chronological order, with the most recently published being listed first.

You can further narrow down the articles or case reports you want to see by choosing one or more types of article, or case report, and/or selecting the date of publication, using the boxes on the right-hand side of your screen.

Showing results from 1 to 20 of 246

I have been reading the speech given by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on 3 August concerning the controversial proposed mosque and community centre to be built two blocks away from Ground Zero.

A tribunal holds there was no religious discrimination against an employee who sent a homophobic email, notwithstanding her contention that it was sent because of her Christian view. It held that the employee was dismissed for breach of the employer's policy on use of its email system. Haye v London Borough of Lewisham (ET/2301852/09, 16 Jun 2010)

Some 7% of people from ethnic minority backgrounds felt they had been refused a job for reasons of race, compared with just 1% of white people, reveals a new survey from the Communities and Local Government department. A higher proportion of people from ethnic minority backgrounds (5%) also felt they had experienced racial discrimination when seeking promotion, compared with 1% of white people.

The latest report from the Tribunals Service shows that there were sizeable increases in the number of discrimination cases brought relating to all types of discrimination except sex discrimination (down 2%). The largest increase was in relation to age claims, which rose by 37% and are now not far behind the level of race claims.

The final report into diversity in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), commissioned by Mayor Boris Johnson in October 2008, has been published. The interim findings were published in September 2009.

The Employers Forum on Age (EFA) and Employers Forum on Belief (EFB) have given recognition to those organisations that demonstrate best practice on age equality and equality on grounds of religion or belief.

I went to an interesting symposium organised by the Humanist Philosophers group on when it should be permissible to allow exemptions on grounds of religion or belief from legal requirements, an especially hot topic, of course, in view of cases like Ladele (see EOR 199) and McFarlane (see EOR 201).

In this second part of our annual survey of compensation awards, we look at disability, age, sexual orientation and religion or belief discrimination, as well as those cases that involve more than one jurisdiction. As in previous years, we find that disability discrimination attracts the highest amounts. (...more)

The main focus this month is on our annual compensation awards survey.

Expecting employment tribunals to interpret the nature of religious beliefs is not helpful to resolving conflicts between individuals’ rights, argues Darren Newman. In a response to the EOR article “Misconceptions about the nature of religious belief”, he explains why he believes the current approach taken by the tribunals and courts is correct. (...more)

In refusing permission to appeal against a finding that a psychosexual counsellor was not unlawfully discriminated against on grounds of religion or belief when he was dismissed for refusing to counsel same-sex couples about sexual matters, Lord Justice Laws condemns calls for specially constituted courts to hear claims of religious discrimination. McFarlane v Relate Avon Ltd (29 Apr 2010, CA)

This month we focus on religion and belief equality in the workplace – an issue that still gives rise to difficulties in terms of definitions and also best practice. (...more)

Misunderstanding of the nature of religious belief, particularly Christianity, has led to a restrictive interpretation by the courts of the rights under the Religion or Belief Regulations, argues Sam Webster of the Christian Institute. His article explains his view that some equality rights have been used to “trump” others, and why this needs to be addressed by the tribunals. (...more)

Tackling the sensitive issue of religion and belief is something that many employers fear will open a Pandora’s box. Kate Godwin examines the approach adopted by Tower Hamlets Council, which has one of the most religiously diverse populations in the UK.

The British Library has addressed sensitive religious dress and security issues and implemented religion and belief awareness training for staff to give them confidence in handling differing faith needs, both as service providers and within the workplace. Carol Foster reports.

We look at the work of the Employers Forum on Belief, the independent employers’ network which shares good practice on religion, belief and non-belief in the workplace.

The Court of Appeal has held that BA’s policy of prohibiting jewellery to be visible over a uniform, which did not allow the claimant to visibly wear a plain silver cross, did not indirectly discriminate against her on grounds of religion or belief. Eweida v British Airways plc (12 Feb 2010, CA) (...more)

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that a registrar who refused to carry out civil partnerships because of her religious beliefs as an evangelical Christian, and was disciplined as a result, was not unlawfully discriminated against. Ladele v London Borough of Islington (15 Dec 2009, CA) (...more)

This case illustrates how an employer can rely upon the defence of having taken reasonable steps to prevent a discriminatory act where it has a “dynamic regime” of monitoring and training on its equality policy. An employment tribunal held that the respondent was not liable for a discriminatory comment, as it had a clear policy prohibiting discrimination on grounds of religious belief, and that it could not have foreseen the incident in question. Ali v Sitel (11 Nov 2009, ET/2801037/09)

A provision that the claimant had to work four Saturdays a year did not put her, a Seventh Day Adventist, at a particular disadvantage, as she was not obliged to work Saturdays but could, in fact, find a substitute to work for her on those days. Mason v (1) Mitie Pest Control Ltd (2) Robb (26 Feb 2009, ET/1402021/08)