Court of Appeal hears case of sacked Christian teacher

A Christian school assistant who was fired after sharing concerns about sex education lessons and transgenderism in schools can have her case heard today by the Court of Appeal.

Kristie Higgs is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, which said that her case “has significant ramifications for Christian freedom within the workplace and the liberty of any worker to specific biblical principles on marriage and family, a few of which can express opposition to LGBTQI+ ideology, in public or private, without the fear of losing their livelihoods”.

Higgs lost her job at Farmor’s Secondary School in 2019 over two posts she shared the yr before on her personal Facebook account under her maiden name. 

The posts questioned the introduction of mandatory relationships and sex education lessons in her son’s primary school, and the promotion of transgenderism at school library books. Although the posts didn’t mention her employer, the college received an anonymous grievance, resulting in her dismissal for gross misconduct.

She challenged her sacking at an employment tribunal in 2020 however the judgment upheld the college’s decision, concluding that it was justified in firing her because her posts could possibly be perceived as “transphobic” and “homophobic”.

An Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that the case ought to be sent back to the Employment Tribunal to be heard again, but this verdict was successfully appealed by Higgs’ lawyers who argued that the ruling and guidance from the EAT diminished free speech protections.

Granting permission for her case to be heard by the Court of Appeal, Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing said earlier this yr that the case “raises no less than three essential questions on the dismissal of an worker for the expression of her beliefs”. 

These include the “erroneous view that [Mrs Higgs’] views constituted illegal discrimination”, and “the extent to which an employer may lawfully dismiss an worker for expressing views that are based on her religious beliefs in a forum which just isn’t within the workplace, just isn’t controlled by the employer, and which has a limited variety of members”.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, Mrs Higgs said she was praying for a ruling “that protects Christian employees and oldsters’ freedom to specific their beliefs without fear or being silenced”.

“I would not want any parent to undergo what I even have over the past five years. Nobody ought to be sacked for raising the concerns that I did in the best way that I did,” she said. 

“One of the most important things for me was that this dangerous and anti-Christian ideology was being introduced right into a Church of England school. I could see that what was happening was harmful, and no parents appeared to learn about it.

“My posts were a warning and a lot of what has happened in the controversy over the past five years has vindicated me. Transgender ideology and extreme sex education is harmful to children and shouldn’t have any place in schools, especially not Christian primary schools.”

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said the case was “profoundly essential without spending a dime speech and Christian freedom” and would “set a very important legal precedent for a few years to return”.

“This case has exposed at every stage systemic prejudice against the Christian faith and its teachings. First at her school after which within the courts. Now is the time to place things right,” she said. 

“The end result of this case shall be huge and has been an extended five-year journey.”

She added, “We pray now for justice for Kristie and that there shall be a ruling that not only protects Christian freedoms, but in addition protects freedom for everybody within the UK.”

Interventions are being made within the case by Sex Matters, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Church of England Archbishops’ Council, the Free Speech Union and the Association of Christian Teachers.

Sex Matters said that “most cases of belief discrimination which are coming up in courts and tribunals for the time being are direct discrimination – the true objection is to the assumption, and never to the actual way (or time or place) the person manifested it”.

It said, “Kristie Higgs’ concerns about gender-identity affirmation in schools, expressed in ‘florid’ language in a Facebook post in 2018, weren’t only an expression of her religious beliefs, but were also reflected in 2024 within the more fastidiously written Cass Review.

“The query of what makes the manifestation of a specific belief legally ‘objectionable’ is particular to context – the goals of the organisation and the person’s job. It just isn’t a sweeping and vague moral judgment to be made by employment tribunals, archbishops or Stonewall.”