Today (February 12th), the school’s counseling assistant won the UK Court of Appeals after firing her for expressing concerns to Facebook about LGBTQ+ materials being taught to elementary school students.
Christie Higgs, the mother of two 48-year-old Christians, worked as a student counselling assistant for seven years at Farmers School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, before being fired in 2019. Church of England Primary School.
Judges Underhill, Underhill, Bean, and Lady Justicefolk reversed an early Employment Court decision defending the school’s Higgs’ dismissal.
Higgs said at a press conference that court rulings are as important to freedom of speech as is religious freedom.
“Employers rely on the theoretical fear of reputational damage and subjective concerns about training employees to exercise their fundamental freedoms and express deep beliefs. “We won’t be able to do that,” she said. “The Court of Appeals now sets clear standards for protecting people like me and countless other Christians in this country, expressing their beliefs without fear of losing their jobs. I’m doing it.”
The Christian Law Centre (CLC), which represents Higgs in the court, has called the court’s decision “review and reshape England’s laws on religious discrimination.”
The ruling confirms that the Equality Act protects traditional Christian beliefs on social issues, such as transgenderist ideas and opposition to “gender fly-ability” and opposition to same-sex marriage. .
“Authorized judgments reshape the laws relating to workplace religious freedom,” the CLC said. “For the first time in Employment Act, this ruling effectively established the legal presumption that dismissal of expressions or manifestations of Christian faith is illegal.”
The decision explained that the employer had not only believed that such dismissal was justified, but was with the employer to prove that it could be objectively justified. According to the CLC, impending social needs.
Additionally, the Court of Appeals ruled that Higgs’ dismissal was only legal if it was “provisioned by law and objectively justified as necessary in a democratic society,” the CLC said.
The school argued that Higgs was fired not because of Christian beliefs but because of the language used in her social posts. However, the judge in the verdict called the looting “undoubtedly an unbalanced response,” saying, “if the language of repost passes the reactivity threshold, it’s not terribly offensive.” I called it.
“There was no evidence that the school’s reputation had previously been affected, and the concerns were about potential future damage,” the judge said.
They ruled that even if a reader of the post relates the claimant to the school, they would believe it represents the school’s view.
“Reputation damages only take the form of fear expressed by the petitioner, meaning that the claimant expresses the undoubted implicitness of homophobic and transphobic attitudes in the language used. That could be,” the ruling states.
The judge accepted that if such beliefs were “wide” it could damage the school’s reputation in the community. However, the risk of such “wide distribution” was deemed “speculative at best.”
“The post is her personal Facebook account, her maiden name and does not mention the school,” the judges said. “Weeks after the hearing, and weeks after the hearing, only one person was known to have realised who she was.”
The judges accepted Higgs’ claim that gay and trans students were not treated differently, noting that there were no complaints about her work.
“We’ll summarise these reasons,” the judge said. It is undoubtedly a repost of material expressed in provocative language in Florid, which she disagreed, and in situations where people are responsible for recognizing her connection with the school, it is wise to be wise. There were none.
“But (we) can’t accept that it can justify her firing.
The court overturned the previous Court of Employment Appeals’ decision to cancel the case for retrial, saying, “We will retain ourselves that the dismissal of the claimant constituted illegal discrimination on the grounds of religion and belief. It’s necessary,” he added.
After the Court of Appeals ruling, Higgs reminded me of how she shared a private Facebook post in October 2018, raising awareness of the gender ideology taught by young children in elementary school.
“Because of these posts, I lost my job. Today, nearly seven years later, the Court of Appeals finally made it right,” Higgs said. “While expressing biblical Christian teachings about gender and sexuality may seem offensive to those who hold opposite views, today’s judgment signal is that Christians are able to believe their beliefs I have the right to publicly express myself. I am not the only one. Because of the Christian faith, too many Christians suffer from discipline and alienation at work.”
Higgs thanked her Christian concerns and the Christian Law Center and family and friends for supporting her.
“But more than anything, I give my God all my praise, glory and honor. It is through His grace and mercy that I stand here today,” she said. “I pray that today will be a groundbreaking day for Christian freedom and freedom of speech. Christians are not afraid of being punished by social media or employers, and are not afraid of social media and other non-duty related matters. You have the right to express your beliefs in the setting. Expressing the truth of the Bible is not discriminatory. It is an expression of love and light.”
CLC CEO Andrea William interpreted it as proof of the court’s ruling, saying “ideological censorship in the workplace is illegal.”
“Free speech and religious freedom have not yet disappeared from English law. The outcome of Christie’s case sets a significant legal precedent for years to come,” Williams said.
Higgs shared and posted a dispute message on her personal Facebook page after receiving an invitation from the Church of England primary school, where her young son was attended, on October 5, 2018.
The invitation, entitled “Teaching Equality Law in Schools,” states, “This year, we are using several story books to help school communities promote diversity and celebrate differences. Children are very familiar with the phrase “There are no outsiders in our school” when they work through storybooks. ”
The letter stated that the program was “in line with the Equality Act of 2010,” and invited parents to view books and lesson plans at school events. Higgs said she, another parent and grandparents were present to watch.
She saw books such as Sarah Hoffman’s “Jacob’s New Dress.” Michael Hall, a boy who likes to wear a dress, is in a crisis of identity because he is not red.
“For me, I didn’t think it was likely bullying,” Higgs said in a 2024 Christian Concerns video. Children can choose their gender. I thought it was very confused for my child because of our Christian beliefs. ”
Concerned that most parents were unaware of the gender identity books advertised by the school, Higgs posted on her Facebook page. She also shared another post about the petition for the introduction of LGBTQ+ “Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)” in schools.
She uploaded the Citizen GO Petition link on October 24, 2018. This “maintains the right to educate children in line with the religious beliefs of parents. We will halt support for indoctrination of LGBTs.” The petition was directed at then-Secretary of Education Damien Hind.
Higgs posted on October 27, 2018, “This is happening in our primary school!” He then provided a link to an article with the headline “Jacob’s New Dress and Red: Crayon’s Story Gives “Toni Tampon” a Run for Money.”
In a video interview with Christian concerns, Higgs thought “it’s over,” but anonymous parents complained to the principal about the post, saying they were homophobic and offensive. Higgs was summoned to a meeting with the school’s principal and relationship staff members.
“They thought the posts I’m sharing were homophobic and very negative, ‘Did you realize that other parents would see these?” Higgs recalled. “So I thought it was on Facebook and I was expecting people to see them, but I didn’t think I really did anything wrong.”
She said she was confused as to why school officials sent her home.
“I did nothing wrong. I shared some information with other parents about what the government is planning, about the criticism articles and about the books being read.” said Higgs. “I was in shock so I went home and cried, but I still didn’t think I had done anything wrong.”
The secondary school suspended her for an investigation and endured a six-hour disciplinary hearing on December 19, 2018. She was fired on January 7, 2019 without warning of “illegal misconduct.”
On April 15, 2019, the Employment Court opposed allegations of illegal discrimination under the Equality Act of 2010. She successfully appealed her at the Court of Employment Appeals last June, but the judge ordered the case again from the original court. He rejected her claim.
The case proceeded to the UK Court of Appeals with today’s ruling (February 12th) as Higgs’ lawyers successfully placed the order.
