A tribunal has upheld the decision of an Anglican school to dismiss a Catholic teacher for expressing his views on same-sex marriage, abortion, and Sharia law during a diversity training day.
Ben Dybowski, a Catholic teacher at The Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales High School near Cardiff, was dismissed following the diversity and inclusion event in March 2023.
He claimed he was discriminated against for his religious beliefs after questioning whether his stance—that true marriage is between a man and a woman, that human life begins at conception, and that abortion constitutes the taking of innocent human life—would be considered discriminatory.
The Cardiff tribunal heard that Dybowski was also critical of certain aspects of Sharia law. The diversity trainer informed him that while he was free to hold such beliefs, expressing them might be "regarded as discrimination."
Following complaints from staff, Dybowski was called into a meeting with the school’s headteacher, Marc Belli. During the discussion, he expressed that he had shared similar views on social media. Dybowski was reminded of the school’s social media guidelines and the Education Workforce Council (EWC) regulations, emphasising that publicly expressing such views could potentially harm students or staff, particularly within the school’s diverse community.
The tribunal was also told that Dybowski was an active campaigner who frequently engaged in discussions about his views with both staff and students. Ultimately, he was dismissed from his position.
In its ruling, the tribunal found that the Anglican school was "entitled" to regulate how Christian beliefs were expressed within its environment, in alignment with its values. While Dybowski’s views on marriage, abortion, and gender were recognised as protected beliefs under the Equality Act 2010, his criticisms of Sharia law were classified as opinions rather than protected beliefs.
Judge Samantha Moore said it was reasonable for Belli to conclude that Dybowski could not be trusted to avoid inappropriate discussions with students. She stated, "The claimant has a right to hold his beliefs and to manifest them, but he is under the same prohibitions as the rest of society to not discriminate or harass others."
"(The Bishop of Llandaff Church In Wales school) was entitled to want to exercise a degree of control over how beliefs were manifested within the school environment in accordance with the school's values given the potential power imbalance between teachers and pupils and in the context of potentially vulnerable pupils," Moore added.
