An incredibly busy week, but at least everyone’s had an extra hour in bed… (Un)protected beliefs In a judgment of 13 October, Mr S T Uncles v NHS Commissioning Board and others [2017] UKET 1800958/2016 , an Employment Tribunal held that a “philosophical belief in English nationalism” was not a protected characteristic in the terms of s10 Equality Act 2010. The ET applied the test in Grainger Plc & Ors v Nicholson [2009] UKEAT 0219/09/0311 and concluded that, though the views expressed were genuinely held, were a belief about a weighty and substantial aspect of human life – namely national identity – and were serious, cohesive and important, they were nevertheless incompatible with the human dignity and fundamental rights of others. The claim failed: we noted it here . In the other important employment case of the week, Mr R Page v NHS Trust Development Authority [2017] UKET 2302433/2016 , an Employment Tribunal held that opposition on grounds of conscience to adoption by same-sex couples was not protected by equality legislation and the ECHR. It concluded that even if Article 9(2) was engaged, any limitation placed on the Article 9 rights of the claimant – whose appointment as a Non-Executive Director of the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership NHS Trust because of his views – was necessary and proportionate in all the circumstances” [58]. We noted it here . (Incidentally, why do ETs insist on citing their decisions as “Mr”/”Mrs”/”Ms” A B? Other courts and tribunals […]

By : Mark McDowell Tags: