Christian social worker Felix Ngole has won a case before the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in London, after challenging a ruling that he was lawfully denied employment because of his traditional beliefs on marriage and sexuality.
Mr Ngole had a conditional job offer withdrawn by mental health charity Touchstone Leeds after concerns were raised about his past public statements debating Biblical teaching on marriage.
In 2019, he won a landmark free speech case at the Court of Appeal against the University of Sheffield after being expelled from his social work course over Facebook comments upholding Biblical sexual ethics.
At that time, the Court of Appeal ruled that “the mere expression of religious views about sin does not necessarily connote discrimination,” and recognised that he had never been shown to have acted in a discriminatory fashion.
However, Touchstone Leeds argued that service users might discover his views online and suffer negative mental health consequences.
On Monday, the EAT ruled that denying him employment after a two-stage interview on that basis would amount to discrimination that is “not capable of justification”.
Responding to the judgment, Mr Ngole said: “I am pleased to see the Employment Appeal Tribunal recognise that I should not have been refused this job solely because people might discover my mainstream Christian beliefs online.”
However, the EAT has instructed the Employment Tribunal (ET) to “analyse key issues” in the case again.
According to the Christian Legal Centre, which is backing Mr Ngole, the ET’s reasoning on the job-offer decision was “elided” and “conflated”.
Mr Ngole said it was frustrating that the case has been sent back.
“I have supported vulnerable individuals from all backgrounds throughout my professional life, and I have never sought to impose my beliefs on anyone.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “Felix should not have been asked to come back for a second interview and should have won the original trial and subsequent appeal outright – Felix had the job withdrawn and was given a hard time in the second interview for one reason only – his views on Christian marriage which his employer found offensive.”
“No one should be penalised for affirming Biblical marriage – a lifelong union of a man and a woman. The courts need to send the clear message: Christian beliefs are welcome in this society and no employer can mistreat an employee because of their Biblical beliefs.”
Premier Christian News has contacted Touchstone Leeds for a response.
