Life for employers has become more difficult following the recent case of Grainger plc v Nicholson.
The case has confirmed that a potentially huge but unidentifiable class of people will now enjoy protection from discrimination under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003.
The actual finding in Grainger plc v Nicholson is that the ‘Religion or Belief’ regulations protect Mr Nicholson against discrimination on the basis of his belief that mankind is heading towards catastrophic climate change and therefore people are under a moral duty to lead their lives in a manner which mitigates or avoids that catastrophe for the benefit of future generations, and to persuade others to do the same.
But the decision goes much further than that. Any belief will qualify for protection if it:
- is genuinely held
- is a belief and not an opinion or view based on the present state of information available
- is a belief as to a weighty and substantial aspect of human life
- has attained a certain level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance
- is worthy of respect in a democratic society, not incompatible with human dignity and not conflict with the fundamental rights of others.
So it is likely that the following would qualify for protection:
- Climate change
- Humanist
- Green
- Veganism
- Animal rights protester
- CND member.
And likely that these would not:
- Witchcraft
- Voodo.
The interesting category is the ‘maybe’ one, which probably includes:
- Political beliefs
- BNP?
Here is a link to the full judgment: Grainger pcl v Nicholson
