School worker who says she was sacked for being Christian wins right to appeal

A school worker who claims she was sacked because of her Christian beliefs has won the right for her appeal against her dismissal to be heard by senior judges.

Kristie Higgs, 47, was dismissed for gross misconduct by Farmor’s School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2019 after sharing Facebook posts criticising plans to teach LGBT+ relationships in primary schools.

Mrs Higgs, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, took the school to an employment tribunal, arguing she had been unlawfully discriminated against because of her Christian beliefs.

The school had denied dismissing the mother of two because of her religious beliefs and said she was sacked because of the language used in the posts.

In its ruling in 2020, the tribunal concluded her religion is a “protected characteristic” as defined by the Equality Act but the school lawfully dismissed her.

Mrs Higgs appealed against that judgment to the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London, which ruled in her favour and remitted the case back to an employment tribunal for a fresh determination.

Mrs Higgs’s lawyers appealed the decision to order a fresh employment tribunal hearing and have now won the right to have her case heard by Court of Appeal judges.

The hearing is likely to take place later this year.

Mrs Higgs welcomed the fresh hearing.

“From the beginning, despite the many attempts by the school to suggest otherwise, this has always been about my Christian beliefs and me being discriminated against for expressing them in my own time,” she said.

“I was, and still am, appalled by the sexual ideology that was being introduced to my son’s Church of England primary school.

“What has happened since in schools with extreme RSE (relationships and sex education) and transgender ideology shows that I was right to be concerned as a parent.”

Mrs Higgs, from Fairford, Gloucestershire, shared and commented on posts which raised concerns about relationship education at her son’s Church of England primary school.

Pupils were to learn about the No Outsiders In Our School programme, which is a series of books teaching the Equality Act in primary schools.

Mrs Higgs, who was posting on Facebook under her maiden name, shared two posts in October 2018 to about 100 friends.

One of the posts referred to “brainwashing our children”.

An anonymous complaint was made to the school and Mrs Higgs was suspended and, after a disciplinary hearing, dismissed for gross misconduct.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “The previous judgment that upheld her sacking could not stand.

“In what should have been a cut and dry case of discrimination, however, it has been unnerving to encounter the series of obstacles blocking Kristie securing justice.

“We now press on in this important case.

“For Kristie’s case to be heard at the Court of Appeal is a huge moment for Christian freedoms and the freedom of any employee to be able to express opposition to LGBT+ ideology without fear of losing their jobs.”