Veitch Penny LLP - Exeter | Crediton, Devon

Case

Chondol V Liverpool City Council
Employment Appeal Tribunal – 20 January 2009

Issues

(1) The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 (“the Regulations”)
(2) Promotion of religious belief
(3) Reason for dismissal

Facts

Mr Chondol was employed by the Respondent as a social worker. He was seconded by the Respondent to the Mersey Care NHS Trust (“the Trust”) as part of the community mental health team. He was a committed Christian.

The Respondent commenced disciplinary proceedings against him as a number of allegations of misconduct had been made against him. One of the allegations was that he had inappropriately promoted his religious beliefs to service users, despite being aware of the Respondent’s prohibition of the promotion by social workers of any religious beliefs they might hold. It was also alleged that on one occasion he had given a bible to a service user and on another that he had attempted to promote his religious beliefs to another service user who had subsequently complained to the Respondent.

At the disciplinary hearing Mr Chondol told his employer that, with regard to the first incident, the service user had specifically asked Mr Chondol if he had a bible and as he had one with him at the time he gave it to him. In respect of the second incident, he said all he had done was to ask a single open question as to whether the service user had any belief in God or went to church. Following an investigation and the disciplinary hearing, the Respondent took the decision to dismiss Mr Chondol on grounds of gross misconduct.

Mr Chondol brought a claim against his former employer for unfair dismissal and unlawful discrimination contrary to the Regulations. He argued that he had suffered direct discrimination in his dismissal which he believed was on grounds of his Christianity and consequently, on grounds of his religious belief, that he had been treated less favourably than others would have been treated. The Employment Tribunal rejected Mr Chondol’s claims. It found that he had not been treated less favourably on the grounds of his religion. The Tribunal concluded he had been dismissed for “improperly foisting” his religious belief on service users. Whilst his religious belief was relevant to the reason for the dismissal, it was not the reason for the dismissal itself. It concluded that the Respondent would have acted in the same way regardless of the religion it believed Mr Chondol had been promoting. Consequently, he was not treated differently on those grounds. Mr Chondol appealed the Tribunal decision. He argued that the Tribunal had used the incorrect comparator in reaching its decision. He felt they should have compared his position with someone of either no belief or of an unrelated belief who had also foisted his views on others. He did not think it was correct for the Tribunal to compare him to someone of a similarly protected belief.

Decision

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) dismissed his appeal, confirming that the Tribunal’s assessment was correct.

Comments

It found that the issue was whether or not he had inappropriately promoted his religious belief, and was not a question of discrimination.

Rachel Billen – Associate Solicitor, Employment Department at Veitch Penny.
Tel: 01392 278381, Fax: 01392 410247, Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

This Employment Law Update does not constitute legal or other professional advice and should not be relied on as such. You should take specific advice regarding your circumstances before taking any action based on the information contained within this Update.