In a landmark ruling last week Justice Burton in the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled that: "A belief in man-made climate change, and the alleged resulting moral imperatives, is capable, if genuinely held, of being a philosophical belief for the purpose of the 2003 Religion and Belief Regulations."
The judge thereby rejected the bid by the UK's largest quoted residential landlord Grainger to overturn a previous ruling under which its former head of sustainability Tim Nicholson could claim unfair dismissal because of his "philosophical belief" in climate change.
The residential property investment company had argued that "a belief in climate change and the environment.....is not a religious or philosophical belief", but "a political view on science and/or the world", which is not covered by the law.
Nicholson, who was made redundant in July 2008, can now take his case for unfair dismissal to a full employment hearing, on the grounds that Grainger discriminated against his views.
Image by Bearman2007 via Flickr.
He claims that his views on the environment prompted clashes with other senior executives and led to his being sacked.
Following judgment, Nicholson said the ruling was a victory for "anyone suffering from discrimination due to their belief in man made climate change".
"Belief in man-made climate change is not the new religion, it is a philosophical belief that reflects my moral and ethical values and is supported by the overwhelming scientific consensus," he added.
Dave Butler, Director, Corporate Affairs, Grainger plc, said: "This decision merely confirms that views on the importance of environmental protection are capable of amounting to a philosophical belief.
"Grainger absolutely maintains, as it has done from the very outset of these proceedings, that Mr Nicholson's redundancy was driven solely by the operational needs of the company during a period of extraordinary market turbulence, which also required other structural changes to be made within the company."
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