A man who alleged his boss had told him not to read the Bible at work, has had his case for religious discrimination rejected by an employment tribunal.

Erich McElevey said he had been prevented from reading the Bible to pass the time while working as a receptionist at Wycombe Badminton Centre. McElevey, who was studying theology to become a vicar also claimed he faced religious harassment by being scheduled to work on Sundays.

His boss, Alistair Jones told a Watford employment tribunal that it was the centre’s policy that no employee could read a book or use the internet for personal purposes at work.

He also said that McElevey had failed to charge people entry to the courts at times. The tribunal heard that "In [Mr McElevey]’s view, he was helping customers by allowing them to go through to the courts without paying and by allowing members to cancel a booking on the day and to rebook without paying the cancellation fee." McElevey said his attitude was “just trying to live out my faith and love my neighbour as myself.” He received a written warning, but resigned in February 2023.

Rejecting his claims, Judge Elizabeth Coll said the company “had reasonable and proper cause for forbidding Mr McElevey from reading nonwork material at work and for prohibiting the use of the internet and mobile telephones for personal purposes." She added that McElevey had sometimes himself requested to work on Sundays.