‘Upset and offended’: Christian man denied job for following Bible teaching, now court takes action
A court in the United Kingdom has ordered a jobs tribunal to re-hear a case involving a Christian who was denied a job opportunity because of his biblical views on marriage and sexual ethics.
A report from the Christian Institute explains it is Judge James Tayler who ordered the new review from his bench at the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London of the earlier decision from a lower panel that heard a complaint about the discrimination by a mental health charity in Leeds.
There, Felix Ngole had been denied a job by the mental health organization “over fears its clients might be ‘upset and offended’ if they came across his social media posts stating that same-sex relationships are sinful.”
When the local employment tribunal backed that decision, it was, in fact, a mistake “in law in its analysis of certain complaints.”
Tayler returned the dispute to the original panel, explaining it was to determine if “the treatment of the claimant was, in reality, because of his religious beliefs as opposed to something properly separable from them that justified the treatment.”
Ngole, backed by the Christian Legal Centre, said, “I am pleased to see the Employment Appeal Tribunal recognize that I should not have been refused this job solely because people might discover my mainstream Christian beliefs online.”
Andrea Williams, chief of the CLC, said, “No one should be penalized for affirming biblical marriage – a lifelong union of a man and a woman.”
Williams added, “The courts need to send the clear message: Christian beliefs are welcome in this society and no employer can mistreat an employee because of their biblical beliefs.”