Barnsley social worker wins tribunal after job offer withdrawn by Leeds charity
Felix Ngole had a job offer from rescinded Touchstone Leeds over comments he'd made online about same sex marriage
An employment tribunal has been told to look again at the case of a Christian social worker who claims he was discriminated against when he was rejected for a job after a health charity discovered his views on homosexuality.
Felix Ngole told a hearing in 2024 that Touchstone Leeds discriminated against him because of his religious beliefs when they refused him the job as a hospital discharge mental health support worker based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in 2022.
In 2024, an employment tribunal ruled that Mr Ngole was directly discriminated against when Touchstone rescinded the initial job offer, but rejected further claims of discrimination around a second interview and the final decision not to give him the job.
The social worker, who is supported by the Christian Legal Centre, appealed against a number of aspects of this decision and some of these grounds were upheld by Employment Judge James Tayler in a judgment made public on Tuesday.
Judge Taylor concluded that the 2024 tribunal "erred in law in its analysis of certain complaints of direct discrimination because of religious belief".
The original tribunal heard how Touchstone found Mr Ngole was the best-qualified candidate for the role and offered him the job.
But the management then discovered online reports about how Mr Ngole had previously won a Court of Appeal case against Sheffield University, which had wanted to prevent him from completing his social work degree after it became aware of a Facebook row in which he said homosexuality and same-sex marriage were a sin.
Touchstone withdrew the job offer and he was called back for a second interview.
The charity argued that vulnerable LGBT service users requiring mental health support could be more likely to harm themselves if they found out Mr Ngole's views about homosexuality.
But the Cameroon-born grandfather, who lives in Barnsley, argued that his religious views would not prevent him from looking after an LGBT service user.
In his Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) judgment, Judge Tayler ordered the original tribunal to look again at a number of aspects of the case.
On Tuesday, Mr Ngole said: "I am pleased to see the EAT recognise that I should not have been refused this job solely because people might discover my mainstream Christian beliefs online.
"However, I am frustrated that the case has been sent back to the Employment Tribunal.
"I have supported vulnerable individuals from all backgrounds throughout my professional life, and I have never sought to impose my beliefs on anyone."
He said he intends to pursue a further appeal to the Court of Appeal on the aspects of the EAT judgment.
Chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre Andrea Williams said: "Felix should not have been asked to come back for a second interview and should have won the original trial and subsequent appeal outright.
"Felix had the job withdrawn and was given a hard time in the second interview for one reason only - his views on Christian marriage which his employer found offensive.
"Prolonging this case simply adds to the mistreatment of Felix. Hasn't he been through enough already?
"No-one should be penalised for affirming Biblical marriage - a lifelong union of a man and a woman."