Discrimination because of philosophical belief

A recent employment tribunal judgement opened a potential can of worms, when it ruled on the nature of a ‘philosophical belief’.

In Grainger plc v Nicholson the employee claims unfair dismissal under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003.  He maintains that he was dismissed because of his beliefs about climate change, and not simply made redundant.  The Appeal hearing was at this stage just ruling on whether this kind of belief is covered by the regulations (rather than whether there was unfair dismissal).

The judgement asserted that ‘In my judgement, his belief goes beyond mere opinion…’

Definitions from the Regulations include:

• ‘religion’ means any religion
• ‘belief’ means any religious or philosophical belief
• a reference to religion includes a reference to lack of religion
• a reference to belief includes a reference to lack of belief.

A summary of the judgement says ‘A belief in man-made climate change and the resulting moral imperatives is capable, if genuinely held, of being a philosophical belief for the purposes of the 2003 Religion and Belief Regulations.  The belief must be of a similar cogency or status to a religious belief…’

Further information about the definitions and limits can be found in the tribunal judgement on this link.