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Religious discrimination
On 19 January 2010, a devout Christian began her appeal in the Court of Appeal against a decision by the Employment Appeal Tribunal ("EAT") (Eweida v British Airways Plc) that she had not been subjected to unlawful indirect religious discrimination when British Airways, in accordance with its uniform policy, refused to permit her to wear a visible cross on her necklace at work.
BA’s uniform policy permitted an employee to wear any item under the uniform, provided it was not visible. The only circumstances in which religious items could be visibly worn outside the uniform were if wearing the item was a ‘mandatory’ scriptural requirement and the item could not be concealed under the uniform, and even then the wearing required management approval e.g. the hijab, the turban, and the skull cap which some Muslims, Sikhs and Jews respectively believe they are obliged to wear.
The Employment Tribunal had decided that the employee had not suffered indirect discrimination, finding that BA's uniform policy did not place a group of Christians sharing her strong religious view (that she should be allowed visibly to wear the cross) at a particular religious disadvantage when compared with non-Christians. The EAT upheld this decision.
The EAT decided that the employee’s decision to wear a visible cross was a personal one which, although motivated by faith, was not a requirement of the Christian faith or scriptures. The EAT added that there was no evidence of Christians failing to apply for employment, being denied employment if they applied for it or failing to progress within BA because of the uniform policy.
High-level religious discrimination cases are still relatively few and far between. The Court of Appeal’s decision is likely to provide important guidance in the area of indirect religious discrimination.
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