The analyst was fired by his technology services company for harassment but brought a claim for unfair dismissal, discrimination and harassment.
The tribunal heard how he told a younger female colleague that he had seen her in his dreams, knew their paths would cross, and she was haunting him and that she had thrown herself at him in his dream.
As a result of this behaviour, his colleague told the tribunal that she felt panicked by the idea of working with him.
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Messages he sent to her included: “You are haunting me in my dreams”, that he was “trapped and stanned [sic] by the essence of her smell” and that he didn’t want her to tell her line manager he was contacting her.
The analyst told the tribunal that he believes that he has been gifted with the ability to see the future, and that this is a protected belief.
But the tribunal ruled the claimant’s psychic abilities did not amount to a protected religious or philosophical belief under UK employment law, and his dismissal was reasonable based on his harassment of a younger female colleague.
In employment case law (Granger plc v. Nicholson 2010 ICR 360) a protected belief, within the remit of the Equality Act, only qualifies for protection if it is genuinely held, not simply an opinion, contains a weighty aspect of human life and behaviour, is serious and is worthy of respect in a democratic society.
Nicola Wallbank, employment partner at law firm Freeths told HR magazine that the claimant's belief in his so-called psychic abilities was so specific to his own gift, and therefore narrowly focused; it was “not of general importance” as the tribunal found it.
She added: “It therefore failed to meet the requirement that a belief should concern “a weighty and substantial aspect of human life and behaviour”.
Wallbank added that while some beliefs that do not govern the entirety of someone’s life are potentially covered by protection, such as pacifism, in this specific case this would not apply.
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Wallbank continued: “In this case, the claimant’s belief had a very limited impact on the way the claimant governed his life (because he generally only shared his dreams on a very limited basis).
“His belief did not therefore have a status or cogency similar to a religious belief, and was therefore not protected."
Yet, according to Wallbank, the outcome of such cases can be unpredictable and rest on specific facts rather than generalised rules.
“Cases in this field have given rise to some varied and novel arguments – beliefs such as environmentalism and a belief in climate change, anti-fox hunting and hare coursing, ethical veganism,” she said, “have all been found to be protectable, while arguments relating to a belief a poppy should be worn in early November, and objectionable beliefs such as racism or homophobia have not been.”
She added this is likely to be an increasingly contested area as employers come up against a belief in freedom of expression.
Kate Palmer, employment services director at the Peninsula consultancy, explained to HR magazine that workplaces often connect people from a wide variety of backgrounds with different religious and philosophical beliefs but – while they might want to be inclusive and adhere to Equality Act protections – this doesn’t mean that every action is protected.
She said: “Employers should remember that even where an employee holds a protected belief, [employers] may still be able to take action in the event of unacceptable conduct.”
As this case also centred on harassment, conciliatory service Acas advised that employers have a full and fair harassment policy and process.
