Kristie Higgs was dismissed from her role as a pastoral administrator and work experience manager in 2019 after sharing Facebook posts.

A Christian school worker, Kristie Higgs, has won a significant legal victory at the Court of Appeal over her dismissal following social media posts criticising LGBT+ relationships education. Dismissed in 2019 from Farmor’s School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, for sharing Facebook content that challenged the teaching of LGBT relationships in primary schools, the mother-of-two appealed against an Employment Appeal Tribunal judgment from June 2023.

Although the judgment was in her favour, it reinstated her case to be reviewed by an employment tribunal, which her solicitors argued was unnecessary. On Wednesday, three judges determined that remitting the case back to an employment tribunal was “unlawfully discriminatory”.

Lord Justice Underhill, along with Lord Justice Bean and Lady Justice Falk, acknowledged: “In the present case the claimant, who was employed in a secondary school, had posted messages, mostly quoted from other sources, objecting to Government policy on sex education in primary schools because of its promotion of ‘gender fluidity’ and its equation of same-sex marriage with marriage between a man and a woman.”

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The claimant’s beliefs that gender is binary and same-sex marriage can’t equate to heterosexual marriage are protected by law, the court ruled. “It was not in dispute… that the claimant’s beliefs that gender is binary and that same-sex marriage cannot be equated with marriage between a man and a woman are protected by the Equality Act.”

Despite the school’s justification for dismissal due to potential damage to its reputation, “The school sought to justify her dismissal on the basis that the posts in question were intemperately expressed and included insulting references to the promoters of gender fluidity and ‘the LGBT crowd’ which were liable to damage the school’s reputation in the community: the posts had been reported by one parent and might be seen by others.

“However, neither the language of the posts nor the risk of reputational damage were capable of justifying the claimant’s dismissal in circumstances where she had not said anything of the kind at work or displayed any discriminatory attitudes in her treatment of pupils.”

Standing outside the Royal Courts of Justice, Mrs Higgs remarked on the importance of the ruling: “I pray that today will prove to be a landmark day for Christian freedoms and free speech.”

She stressed Christians should be allowed to speak their mind without fear: “Christians have the right to express their beliefs on social media and at other non-work-related settings without fear of being punished by their employer.”

Mrs Higgs faced criticism for sharing posts voicing concerns about relationship education at her son’s school, where they would learn from No Outsiders In Our School books teaching the Equality Act.

Mrs Higgs, who shared posts on a private page under her maiden name to about 100 friends in October 2018, faced suspension and eventual dismissal for gross misconduct following an anonymous complaint. One of the posts mentioned “brainwashing our children”.

The school has previously refuted claims that Mrs Higgs was dismissed due to her religious beliefs, stating that the language used in her posts was the reason for her sacking. In a 2020 ruling, an employment tribunal acknowledged that Mrs Higgs’ religion is a “protected characteristic” as per the Equality Act, but upheld the school’s lawful dismissal.

This decision was overturned by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in 2023 and the case was remitted. However, Richard O’Dair, representing Mrs Higgs, argued in written submissions last October that the EAT provided “highly unsatisfactory guidance”, risking Mrs Higgs being “will be denied justice once again”.

He stated her posts were “political speech contributing to the ongoing debate on a matter of public interest” and “a manifestation of her religious beliefs”. He further added that Mrs Higgs, who denies being homophobic or transphobic, had worked with LGBT pupils without any allegations of discrimination against them.

Sean Jones KC, representing the school, suggested in written submissions that remitting the case was “the appropriate course” as “fuller reasons” for the decision were required.

He went on to say: “(Mrs Higgs) was not dismissed for manifesting (her beliefs) but because the manner in which it was manifested could reasonably have caused and did cause others to think she was expressing homophobic or transphobic views.”