A Christian social employee whose offer of a job was withdrawn over public comments he made about marriage and sexuality has won his case at appeal.
Touchstone Leeds, a mental health and wellbeing charity and NHS provider, withdrew the conditional job offer to Felix Ngole after discovering his past statements expressing a conventional view of marriage and sexuality.
At a previous Employment Tribunal, the charity argued that LGBTQI+ service users might discover Mr Ngole’s views online and suffer distress or negative mental health consequences.
During the unique tribunal, Touchstone’s head of operations, Dave Pickard, had claimed that quoting John 3:16 could possibly be “triggering” for service users, in response to the Christian Legal Centre, which has been supporting Mr Ngole.
That tribunal acknowledged that Mr Ngole was discriminated against due to his beliefs but ultimately ruled that the charity’s actions were proportionate and justified as a consequence of safeguarding and reputational concerns.
The original ruling was overturned by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) at a hearing on Monday in what the Christian Legal Centre called “a big win for Christian freedom and free speech”.
The EAT concluded that the unique judgment amounted to discrimination against Mr Ngole’s beliefs in a fashion that’s “not able to justification”.
However, the EAT found other legal flaws in the unique ruling and has sent parts of the case back to the Employment Tribunal for reconsideration.
Mr Ngole plans to appeal certain facets of the EAT ruling with which he disagrees.
Commenting on the final result, he said, “I’m pleased to see the Employment Appeal Tribunal recognise that I mustn’t have been refused this job solely because people might discover my mainstream Christian beliefs online.
“However, I’m frustrated that the case has been sent back to the Employment Tribunal. I even have supported vulnerable individuals from all backgrounds throughout my skilled life, and I even have never sought to impose my beliefs on anyone.”
Christian Legal Centre chief executive Andrea Williams said, “The ruling makes clear what should at all times have been obvious – there will be no excuse for discriminating Christians within the workplace because members of the general public might discover their protected beliefs online.”
It will not be the primary time Mr Ngole has needed to defend his rights in court. In 2019, he won a landmark free speech case on the Court of Appeal against the University of Sheffield in 2019 after being expelled over Facebook comments he had previously made upholding Biblical sexual ethics.
Also supported by the Christian Legal Centre in that case, the Court of Appeal ruled on the time: “The mere expression of spiritual views about sin doesn’t necessarily connote discrimination.”
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