Higgs v Farmor’s School “They are brainwashing our children!” Kristie Higgs wins appeal in belief-discrimination case at the Court of Appeal

Kristie Higgs was an administrator and work-experience manager at a Church of England secondary school until she was dismissed following a singular email bringing to light Facebook posts from her personal account. The complaint stated that Higgs’ posts were offensive and homophobic.

The posts in question pertained to sexual education in primary schools as a result of what she felt was being taught to her child, of primary school age, Higgs shared posts that stated:

• “They are brainwashing our children!”

• “The LGBT crowd with the assistance of the progressive School systems are destroying the minds of normal children by promoting mental illness”

  
  

Another post referenced “suppressing Christianity and removing it from the public arena".

Once the employer’s attention was brought to Higgs’ online outbursts, they held a six-hour investigation meeting and promptly dismissed her for gross misconduct.

The Court of Appeal ruled that the decision was disproportionate and amounted to unlawful discrimination due to her belief. It reversed the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s (EAT) ruling, which had sent the case back to the Employment Tribunal for a fresh review, with instructions to apply a human-rights test to determine if the school's actions were "prescribed by law and were necessary for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."

The school had dismissed Mrs Higgs for gross misconduct, claiming her posts could harm the school's reputation.

The judges stated in their ruling that neither the language used in Mrs Higgs’ posts nor the potential reputational damage to the school could justify her dismissal, especially since she had not expressed any similar views at work or exhibited discriminatory behaviour towards students.

Matters such as this one underscore the critical role that robust and comprehensive policy hold. As an employer, you may wish to consider the implementation of an Equality and Diversity Policy. Such a policy is essential in the current climate in order to set out standards to your employees, incidents such as the one above are less common when employees are aware of what is expected of them. An equality and diversity policy supports employers’ ability to evidence the steps that they have taken to mitigate the possibility of discrimination by or against their employees.

The employment team at Buxton Coates Solicitors have created the Worker Protection Pack for our clients to relieve the stress of putting in place the vague mandated protections outlined by the government. The pack contains an Equality and Diversity Policy along with other features such as an Equality and Diversity training session for your employees. The pack is priced at £1,500.00 plus VAT, but our Oracle Subscription clients are entitled to a discount – please do not hesitate to contact us if you are interested in obtaining a quote.

This case also outlines the paramount importance of a thorough and pragmatic approach to disciplinary proceedings; if you are ever unsure whether an employee’s conduct warrants such action contact the employment team at Buxton Coates Solicitors on 0330 088 2275 or employment@buxtoncoates.com.