A CHRISTIAN social worker from Barnsley who previously won a free speech case over his views on same-sex marriage is once again in court - this time challenging a ruling that he was lawfully denied employment due to his religious beliefs.
Felix Ngole, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, won a case against the University of Sheffield back in 2019.
He had posted ‘homosexuality is a sin’ as part of a discussion thread on a Facebook post in 2015 and had argued university bosses unfairly threw him off the course after a committee was required to consider his fitness to practise as a social worker.
The decision was upheld by the university appeals committee but he won the right to mount a High Court challenge.
Now, six years later, Ngole has been at the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London this week, appealing a decision by the Leeds Employment Tribunal which upheld the withdrawal of a job offer by mental health charity Touchstone Leeds.
The charity rescinded its offer after discovering Felix’s past public statements affirming and debating Biblical teaching on marriage, which it claimed were incompatible with its values and posed a risk to LGBTQI+ service users.
Despite acknowledging that Felix’s views were rooted in his Christian faith, the tribunal ruled that Touchstone’s decision was justified due to concerns about reputational damage and the mental health impact on service users who might discover his beliefs online.
Employment judge Jonathan Brain ruled that Ngole was discriminated against when his job offer was withdrawn due to his expression of religious beliefs.
However he ruled that the charity was justified in not reinstating the job offer, citing ‘safeguarding concerns’ for LGBTQI+ service users.
He has appealed the decision and has been at court this week.
He said: “If I was discriminated against when they withdrew the job offer then I don’t see how I was not also discriminated against when they refused to reinstate me after the ‘second interview.
“I was told I was the best candidate for the job, I got the highest marks on the diversity questionnaire, then they suddenly found I was unemployable because they discovered that I am a Christian who believes in marriage.
“No one has ever told me that I have not treated them well in my professional experience.
“I have never been accused of forcing my beliefs on anyone.
“I have supported vulnerable individuals from all backgrounds, including LGBT.
“If we get to the point where if you don’t celebrate and support LGBT ideology you can’t have a job, then every Christian out there doesn’t have a future.
“You can study as much as you like, but you will not have a chance.
“The UK is no longer the country I heard about all those years ago when fleeing Cameroon.
“It was then was a bastion of free speech and expression.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said she will fight for Felix until he receives ‘justice’.
She added: “You could not ask for a better and more compassionate social worker than Felix.
“Felix loves Jesus and believes what the Bible says about who we are as humans.
“The Court of Appeal found that Felix had not and wasn’t likely to discriminate against anybody.
“However, this ruling concludes that just the knowledge that he holds Christian beliefs on human sexuality means he is unsuitable for employment in the NHS.
“This ruling cannot stand and it is deeply discriminatory.”
