Senior judges to hear Christian worker's dismissal case

Senior judges will hear a school worker's appeal against her dismissal after she claimed she was sacked because of her Christian beliefs.

Kristie Higgs, 47, was dismissed for gross misconduct by Farmor's School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2019.

The decision came after she shared Facebook posts criticising plans to teach LGBT+ relationships in primary schools.

The hearing is due to begin at the Royal Courts of Justice on Wednesday and Mrs Higgs said she hoped her case would lead to people being able to "express their beliefs without fear of being silenced".

Mrs Higgs, who is from Fairford, shared and commented on posts which raised concerns about relationship education at her son's Church of England primary school.

Pupils were to learn about the No Outsiders In Our School programme, which is a series of books teaching the Equality Act in primary schools.

Mrs Higgs, who was posting on Facebook under her maiden name, shared two posts in October 2018 to about 100 friends.

One of the posts referred to "brainwashing our children".

An anonymous complaint was made to the school and Mrs Higgs was suspended and, after a disciplinary hearing, dismissed for gross misconduct.

Mrs Higgs, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, took the school to an employment tribunal, arguing she had been unlawfully discriminated against because of her Christian beliefs.

The school had denied dismissing the mother-of-two because of her religious beliefs and said she was sacked because of the language used in the posts.

In its ruling in 2020, the tribunal concluded her religion is a "protected characteristic" as defined by the Equality Act, but that the school had lawfully dismissed her, agreeing the posts could have been seen as homophobic and transphobic.

During the hearing, school governor Stephen Conlan said she was sacked because of the language used in the posts.

He told the tribunal: "We were not concerned with Mrs Higgs's religious beliefs. We were concerned with the manner in which those beliefs were expressed."

Mrs Higgs appealed against that judgment to the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London, which ruled in her favour and remitted the case back to an employment tribunal for a fresh determination.

Mrs Higgs's lawyers appealed against the decision to order a fresh employment tribunal hearing and won the right to have her case heard by Court of Appeal judges.

The court has given permission for the Association of Christian Teachers, Free Speech Union, Sex Matters, the Church of England Archbishops' Council and Commission for Equality and Human Rights to intervene.

Ahead of the hearing, Mrs Higgs said: "I wouldn't want any parent to go through what I have over the past five years. Nobody should be sacked for raising the concerns that I did in the way that I did.

"I pray now that the Court of Appeal will make the right judgment and will make a ruling that protects Christian employees and parents' freedom to express their beliefs without fear of being silenced."