A Christian social employee who says he was denied a job due to his beliefs on marriage and sexuality is difficult a tribunal ruling that said his would-be employer acted lawfully.
Felix Ngole is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre at a two-day hearing over Wednesday and Thursday on the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London.
He is appealing a choice by the Leeds Employment Tribunal that upheld the withdrawal of a job offer by Touchstone Leeds, a mental health charity and NHS provider.
Touchstone Leeds withdrew its offer to Ngole after discovering past public comments he had made on social media discussing Biblical views on marriage. The organisation argued the comments were inconsistent with its values and will pose a risk to LGBTQI+ service users.
While the tribunal found that Ngole had been discriminated against when the offer was withdrawn, it ruled that Touchstone’s decision to not reinstate him was justified on safeguarding grounds. The judge said the charity’s concerns about potential harm to service users were proportionate.
Ngole’s legal team argues that the ruling sets a precedent allowing employers to exclude Christians who hold traditional views on sexuality from working in public-facing roles.
His appeal will challenge the tribunal’s judgment, including its reliance on reputational risk and on ‘minority stress theory’ – the concept that exposure to opposing views could cause psychological harm.
Ngole, who previously won a 2019 free speech case against the University of Sheffield, said in a press release that the tribunal’s decision “sets a dangerous precedent” and penalises Christians for his or her beliefs.
Speaking ahead of the hearing, he said, “It is untenable for employers to be allowed to discriminate against Christians in this manner and to force individuals to advertise an ideology that goes against their conscience within the workplace.
“There was no mutual respect, and no tolerance and inclusion of me and my beliefs in anyway.
“If we get to the purpose where when you don’t have fun and support LGBT ideology you’ll be able to’t have a job, then every Christian on the market doesn’t have a future. You can study as much as you want, but you won’t have a probability.
“The UK isn’t any longer the country I heard about all those years ago when fleeing Cameroon. The UK then was a bastion of free speech and expression.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said the group would proceed to support Ngole’s case, describing the unique ruling as “inconsistent” and “deeply discriminatory.”
“This ruling opens up the truth of employers discriminating against and denying employment to anyone who doesn’t have fun and promote complete LGBT affirmation,” she said.
“We are making a society where social employees, doctors, nurses and psychologists, for instance, must be silent or face accusations that merely holding their protected beliefs may lead to patients coming to harm.
“You couldn’t ask for a greater and more compassionate social employee than Felix Ngole. Felix loves Jesus and believes what the Bible says about who we’re as humans.
“The Court of Appeal found that Felix had not and wasn’t prone to discriminate against anybody. However, this ruling concludes that just the knowledge that he holds Christian beliefs on human sexuality means he’s unsuitable for employment within the NHS.
“This ruling cannot stand and it’s deeply discriminatory. We will fight for Felix until he receives justice.”
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