Judges hear case of Christian teacher fired over Facebook posts
A former school assistant who was dismissed after expressing her Christian beliefs through Facebook posts that criticized LGBT+ relationship education in the Church of England’s primary schools, will have her case heard by the Court of Appeal Wednesday.
Kristie Higgs, 47, from Gloucestershire, claims she was dismissed from Farmor’s School for “gross misconduct” in 2019 after she expressed her Christian beliefs on Facebook.
Higgs shared two Facebook posts in October 2018 that questioned the introduction of the “No Outsiders In Our School” program at her son’s primary school, according to The Telegraph.
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The posts, shared with about 100 friends under her maiden name, labeled the program as a form of “brainwashing” and critiqued the teaching of gender identity and same-sex relationships as normal and equivalent to traditional marriage.
The posting led to an anonymous complaint to the school, triggering a series of events, resulting in Higgs’ suspension and firing.
The initial tribunal in 2020 acknowledged her religious expression as a protected characteristic but upheld the school’s decision, stating the dismissal was lawful.
The school maintains that Higgs was dismissed not for her religious beliefs but for the manner in which she expressed her views, which they claim could bring the school into disrepute. The tribunal supported this perspective, stating that the content of the posts was potentially homophobic and transphobic.
Today's appeal is critical not just for Higgs but for how the law on free speech and freedom to express faith in the U.K. is implemented “for many years to come, if not decades,” said the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting Higgs in her case.
The court will determine whether it is lawful for an employer to punish employees for private social media posts expressing beliefs on religious, political and moral issues, according to the group.
“I wouldn’t want any parent to go through what I have over the past five years,” Higgs was quoted as saying. “Nobody should be sacked for raising the concerns that I did in the way that I did.”
She explained, “One of the biggest things for me was that this dangerous and anti-Christian ideology was being introduced into a Church of England school. I could see that what was happening was harmful, and no parents appeared to know about it.”
The case involves the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and several other interveners, including the Association of Christian Teachers and the Church of England Archbishops’ Council. The EHRC intervention refers to a growing concern about employers being influenced by third parties to penalize employees for their private expressions on contentious issues.
The court will assess whether the actions taken against Higgs for her posts were justified or if they infringed on her rights to free speech and religious expression as protected by the European Convention of Human Rights. Her legal team contends that the posts were not discriminatory but were legitimate concerns about the education content being presented to her child.
CLC’s Chief Executive, Andrea Williams, points out that the case has revealed systemic bias against Christian views in educational settings and the judiciary.
“Ironically, the only intervener who appears to support the principle of some censorship is the Church of England (CofE),” she lamented.
“This is part of a huge ongoing failure of the CofE to actually stand up for Christian moral teaching in their schools and in the public square,” Williams said. “Their latest guidance on how CofE primary schools should deal with transgender ideology in schools reveals that few lessons have been learned.”
