A senior manager who has alleged that he was unfairly dismissed on the basis of his views on climate change, when he was made redundant by his employer, can take his employer to a Tribunal, an employment appeal judge has ruled.
Tim Nicholson, head of sustainability at residential landlord group Grainger, had been given permission by a Tribunal to make his claim under the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003, which covers "any religion, religious belief, or philosophical belief".
Grainger appealed against this decision on the grounds that his actions were politically motivated.
However, Nicholson was again given leave to pursue his claim. Shah Qureshi, his solicitor, said: "Essentially what the judgment says is that a belief in man-made climate change and the alleged resulting moral imperative is capable of being a philosophical belief and is therefore protected by the 2003 religion or belief regulations."
Nicholson had tried to set up a carbon management system at Grainger, but said he could not work out the company's carbon footprint because colleagues had refused to provide him with the required data. He further accused Chief Executive, Rupert Dickinson, of showing "contempt" for his concerns.
Dave Butler, Grainger's corporate affairs director, said: "Grainger absolutely maintains, as he has done from the very outset of these proceedings, that Mr. Nicholson's redundancy was driven solely by the operational needs of the company during a period of extraordinary market turbulence, which also required other structural changes to be made within the company. Grainger rejects outright any suggestion that there was any other motivation relating to Mr. Nicholson's beliefs or otherwise".
This case will be a test of just how far-reaching the equality legislation can be. We have even heard of a motorcyclist who has suggested that his love of biking should be considered a religion and that he be treated appropriately when requesting time off to pursue his faith. Sounds too daft to be true, but we will see.
Clients are advised to seek advice whenever an employee makes a complaint to you of discrimination or victimisation, no matter how absurd it may seem.