Work And Religion – Never The Twain Shall Meet?

In the words of Rihanna, should we stick to only talking about "work, work, work, work, work" in the workplace? Many UK businesses now have diverse and global workforces bringing together workers of different faiths. Workers who work together, eat together and ... pray together?

With such diversity, it is only a matter of time before an employer might have to deal with conflicts involving religion and work. The Equality Act 2010 protects workers against discrimination on various grounds including religion or similar belief. One employer who has dealt with this recently is East London NHS Foundation Trust.

The Trust employed Victoria Wasteney, who describes herself as a born again Christian, as the Head of Forensic Occupational Therapy. In June 2013, one of her colleagues, EN, who was of Muslim faith and Pakistani heritage, made several complaints against her. She felt "groomed" by Ms Wasteney who had allegedly told EN she needed to "invite Jesus to come into her spirit". Also, Ms Wasteney had prayed over her and laid hands on her by touching her knee. EN said she felt ill because of such behaviour. In late 2013, Ms Wasteney received a final written warning from the Trust (which was subsequently reduced on appeal to a first written warning) for three charges of misconduct: praying with EN, giving her a book about a Muslim woman who converts to Christianity and inviting her to church events. Ms Wasteney was held to have failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries, taking into account her seniority in relation to EN.

Ms Wasteney raised claims in the employment tribunal for direct discrimination and harassment on the ground of religion or belief. She was unsuccessful. The tribunal held the reason for her treatment was not because she carried out religious acts - it was because the religious acts placed inappropriate pressure on a junior colleague and blurred professional boundaries. The tribunal also held the Trust had not 'harassed' her (she had argued that the disciplinary sanction was 'oppressive' such as to amount to harassment).

Unhappy with the tribunal's decision, Ms Wasteney appealed. She argued, amongst other things, that the tribunal had not sufficiently considered her right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 9, she said, not only protected her right to hold a particular belief but also to manifest it.

She lost the appeal. The Judge noted that...

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