People of faith are often keen to share their views and beliefs with friends and colleagues, but how far is it reasonable to go when sharing religious views and beliefs in the workplace? And when is it appropriate for an employer to take action to protect the feelings of other employees? This was the issue considered by the EAT in the case of Wasteney v East London NHS Foundation Trust.

Facts

The claimant, a senior manager employed by the NHS Trust, was an active Christian.  

A number of complaints were made by a junior worker of Muslim faith about various interactions she had had with the claimant which the complainant characterised as “grooming”. These included the claimant’s praying with the complainant and the laying on of hands, giving a book to the complainant which concerned the conversion to Christianity of a Muslim woman, and inviting her to various services and events at the claimant’s church.

The Trust found the claimant guilty of serious misconduct as professional boundaries had been blurred and improper pressure and unwanted conduct had been imposed on the complainant. The claimant was given a final written warning, reduced on appeal to a first written warning.

The claimant complained to the Employment Tribunal that the disciplinary action taken against her amounted to direct discrimination and harassment because of her religion or belief. She also relied on Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides the right to “freedom of thought, conscience and religion” and freedom to manifest religious beliefs and alleged that the sanction imposed on her was ‘oppressive’.

The Tribunal rejected the claimant’s claims and the claimant appealed.

Decision

The EAT dismissed the appeal. The EAT concluded that the claimant was not subjected to a disciplinary process or sanction because she manifested her religious belief in voluntary and consensual exchanges with a colleague but because she had demonstrated unwanted and unwelcome conduct towards a colleague, going substantially beyond ‘religious discussion’, without regard to her own influential position as a senior manager. The treatment of which the claimant complained was because of, and related to, those inappropriate actions, not to any legitimate manifestation of her belief.

It relation to Article 9 ECHR, the Tribunal stressed that the Convention did not give the claimant “a complete and unfettered right” to discuss or act on her religious beliefs at work irrespective of the views of others or her employer. It concluded that the disciplinary action taken by the Trust was proportionate and the sanction imposed was not oppressive.

Comment

The question of when an employee can be said to have acted inappropriately in the way they manifested their belief remains a grey area. If the claimant had been manifesting a religious belief in consensual interactions with a colleague then that would have been within her rights and it might well have amounted to religious discrimination to discipline her for it.  However, in this case the claimant was found to have overstepped the mark because of the way she shared her faith with a more junior colleague.

When faced with a complaint, employers should give careful thought to the way in which the views in question are being manifested and whether or not disciplinary action is appropriate.

Employers should also make sure that their internal policies and practices make it clear that although employees are permitted to discuss their religious faith or other beliefs in the workplace, this right is not unlimited and should not occur if the conduct is unwelcome or unwanted or could put undue pressure on another employee. 

Wasteney v East London NHS Foundation Trust UKEAT/0157/15/LA