Christian to appeal over job tribunal ruling

Felix Ngole, 46, said he had never forced his beliefs on anyone

A Christian social worker who was rejected for a job after a charity discovered his views on homosexuality has said he will appeal against part of an employment tribunal ruling into the matter.

Felix Ngole, 46, from Barnsley, was originally offered a role at Touchstone Leeds in 2022, but it was revoked after it emerged he thought homosexuality was a sin.

He was asked to attend a second interview, but after he was still not given the job, despite being deemed the "best qualified" candidate, Mr Ngole claimed his religious beliefs had been discriminated against.

A tribunal agreed on Monday that Mr Ngole was directly discriminated against when the initial offer was rescinded, but it rejected further claims of discrimination around the second interview and the final decision not to give him the job.

In a written judgment, the tribunal also rejected Mr Ngole's claims of indirect discrimination and harassment.

Mr Ngole had previously won a Court of Appeal case against Sheffield University who had wanted to stop him completing his social work degree because of his orthodox Christian views.

'Potentially devastating'

During the employment tribunal hearing earlier this year, Touchstone Leeds said vulnerable LGBT service users requiring mental health support could be more likely to harm themselves if they found out Mr Ngole's views about homosexuality.

But the Cameroon-born grandfather argued that his religious views would not prevent him from looking after an LGBT service user.

In the published judgment, Employment Judge Jonathan Brain said: "The expression of his beliefs rooted in his religion was a material reason for the decision taken by Touchstone to withdraw the conditional job offer on 10 June 2022.

"The direct discrimination claim must therefore succeed."

But the ruling added that "offering a second meeting or interview was the least intrusive way of proceeding".

"It is difficult to see how being properly questioned about that suitability once his orthodox Christian views had come to light reasonably could be considered a violation of his dignity or to create an intimidating environment for him," it said.

Touchstone Leeds could not take the risk of a "vulnerable" service user discovering Mr Ngole's views, as the effect could be "potentially devastating", Judge Brain said.

"The balance favours the respondent, and their actions were therefore proportionate and are justified," he concluded.

'Disturbing conclusions'

Following the publication of the judgement, Mr Ngole said he was "pleased the tribunal found that I was discriminated against".

However, he added that there were "so many disturbing comments and conclusions in it as well, which leaves me with no choice but to appeal".

"I have never been accused of forcing my beliefs on anyone and I have supported vulnerable individuals from all backgrounds, including LGBT," he said.

"If we get to the point where if you don't celebrate and support LGBT you can't have a job, then every Christian out there doesn't have a future."

The Christian Legal Centre, which supported Mr Ngole, said the judgment "includes mixed and chilling conclusions for Christian freedoms and free speech".

Andrea Williams, the centre's chief executive, called the judge's reasoning "contorted".

"This ruling opens up the reality of employers discriminating against and denying employment to anyone who does not celebrate and promote complete LGBT affirmation," she said.

In a statement, Touchstone said: "We very clearly and publicly pride ourselves on being a strong ally to the LGBTQI+ community, as well as all religious communities.

"We would never want to lose the trust of the communities that we work so hard to support and serve, nor are we prepared to compromise our values at any time.

"We believe we did the right thing in defending this action and acting in line with our values, with the principle aim being to protect our service users, staff, and all involved with our charity."

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