Religion or belief: case law

Grainger plc and others v Nicholson

The case of Grainger plc and others v Nicholson suggests that for a philosophical belief (including, in this case, philosophical belief on climate change) to afford this protection, it must:

• be genuinely held
• be a belief and not an opinion or viewpoint based on the present state of information available
• be a belief as to a weighty and substantial aspect of human life and behaviour
• attain a certain level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance
• be worthy of respect in a democratic society and not incompatible with human dignity and/or conflict with the fundamental rights of others

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) accepted that although support for a political party would not be considered a philosophical belief, belief in political philosophies such as socialism, Marxism, communism or free-market capitalism might qualify.

Further to this, the EAT noted that a racist or homophobic political philosophy would not qualify as a philosophical belief as the belief must be 'worthy of respect in a democratic society and not incompatible with human dignity'.

The EAT accepted that a philosophical belief could be based entirely on scientific conclusions. The EAT gave the example of Darwinism, which it said 'must plainly be capable of being a philosophical belief'.