A Christian relationship counsellor who was dismissed after he refused to give advice to same-sex couples has lost his claim for religious discrimination.
Gary McFarlane, who worked at counselling service Relate, trained to be a psychosexual therapist and his role was then extended to giving advice on couples' sexual problems. When he refused to give advice to same-sex couples because of his religious beliefs, his colleagues complained and he was suspended. He was later dismissed for failing to uphold Relate's equal opportunities policy.
Mr McFarlane alleged, among other things, direct and indirect religious discrimination and harassment on the grounds of his religion. The employment tribunal's reasoning for rejecting his religious discrimination claims has some striking similarities with the EAT's recent judgment in London Borough of Islington v Ladele EAT/0453/08.
The tribunal found that Mr McFarlane had not been directly discriminated against because Relate would have treated in the same way any other employee who, for reasons unrelated to religion, had acted in a way so at odds with its equal opportunities policy. His claim for indirect discrimination was also rejected, with the tribunal saying that Mr McFarlane's dismissal was a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aim of maintaining its commitment to providing a service to all section of the community without any suggestions of discrimination.
In addition, the tribunal held that Mr McFarlane had not been harassed, finding no evidence to back up his allegations that colleagues had attempted to have him dismissed or that they had made any allegations of homophobia against him.
Although his claim for unfair dismissal also failed, the employer did concede to his claim of wrongful dismissal.
The full judgment (PDF format, 692K) is available on the Christian Concern for our Nation (CCFON) website.
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