CV NEWS FEED // Kristie Higgs, a Christian mother and school administrator in England, has won an appeal after her employer dismissed her for expressing beliefs on social media critical of the sex education at her son’s school.
The UK Court of Appeal ruled Feb. 12 that Higgs’ firing violated her right to free speech and constituted unlawful religious discrimination.
The BBC reported that Higgs was a pastoral administrator at Farmor’s School in Gloucestershire. She was dismissed in 2019 after sharing Facebook posts criticizing the pro-LGBT sex-education classes at her son’s Church of England primary school, where she was not employed.
The administration of Farmor’s School stated that by expressing her opinions online, Higgs was guilty of “gross misconduct” and harmed the reputation of Farmor’s School.
Higgs challenged the dismissal and argued that it violated her rights to freedom of speech and religious belief.
Christian Concern reported that initially, an employment tribunal ruled in favor of the school, stating the dismissal was based not on her beliefs, but the language that she used.
The Court of Appeal overturned this decision, ruling that Higgs’ right to free speech had been unjustly restricted, arguing that the dismissal was a disproportionate response, and that “even if the language of the re-posts passes the threshold of objectionability, it is not grossly offensive.”
The court also ruled that the posts did not endanger the school’s reputation.
Their ruling concluded, “We should ourselves hold that the Claimant’s dismissal constituted unlawful discrimination on the ground of religion and belief.”
After the ruling, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe published a statement from Higgs after the ruling.
“Christians have the right to express their beliefs on social media and at other non-work-related settings without fear of being punished by their employer,” she said. “Expressing biblical truth is not discriminatory. It is an expression of love and of light.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, celebrated Higgs’ victory.
“This is also a victory for the many others who went before Kristie, such as Victoria Wasteney and, the late Richard Page, who were also dismissed for their Christian beliefs in the years past, and sought justice in vain,” she stated. “Yet, at a stroke of a pen, decades of unfair decisions which denied justice to Christians have now been re-interpreted by the Court of Appeal and explained away as no more than exceptions which prove the rule.”
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