Christian school worker wins appeal over LGBT Facebook posts sacking

Kristie Higgs welcomed the ruling but said she was "frustrated" by the delays to "receiving justice"

A school worker who claims she was sacked for her Christian beliefs has won an appeal against a tribunal's decision to uphold her dismissal.

Kristie Higgs, 46, was dismissed in 2019 from Farmor's School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, for gross misconduct.

She had shared Facebook posts criticising plans to teach LGBT+ relationships in primary schools.

A tribunal in 2020 upheld her dismissal, but on Friday, a judge sent the case back for a fresh tribunal.

Speaking afterwards, Mrs Higgs, who was supported by the Christian Legal Centre, welcomed the ruling but said she was "frustrated" by the delays to "receiving justice".

"From the beginning, despite the many attempts by the school to suggest otherwise, this has always been about my Christian beliefs and me being discriminated against for expressing them in my own time," she added.

In previous statements, the school denied dismissing Ms Higgs because of her religious views and said she was sacked because of language used in the posts.

The BBC has contacted the school for an updated comment.

Sitting at the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London, Mrs Justice Eady said "the freedom to manifest belief (religious or otherwise) and to express views relating to that belief are essential rights in any democracy".

She qualified these rights and warned they were not without limits.

Specifically this relates to when "such manifestation or expression" infringed on the rights and freedoms of others.

Mrs Higgs shared a post which claimed planned teaching of LGBT+ relationships in primary schools was "brainwashing our children"

The judge said a future hearing would decide whether the school's decision was "because of, or related to, the manifestation of the claimant's protected beliefs, or were due to a justified objection to the manner of that manifestation".

The dispute erupted after Mrs Higgs, from Fairford, shared and commented on posts which raised concerns about relationship education at her son's Church of England primary school.

Pupils were to learn about the No Outsiders In Our School programme, which is a series of books teaching the Equality Act in primary schools.

The mother-of-two shared two posts in October 2018 to about 100 friends which referred to "brainwashing" children and "suppressing Christianity and removing it from the public arena".

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An anonymous complaint was made to the school and Mrs Higgs was suspended and, after a disciplinary hearing, dismissed.

The 2020 tribunal concluded that her religion is a "protected characteristic" as defined by the Equality Act but said the school lawfully dismissed her.