A Christian social worker who was denied a job after his prospective employer found Facebook posts he'd written in a chat about his views on marriage and sexuality has returned to the Court of Appeal. Felix Ngole is challenging a decision to send part of his discrimination claim against mental health charity Touchstone Leeds back to an employment tribunal.
Touchstone offered Ngole a role supporting people being discharged from the hospital in 2022, but after an internet search surfaced posts about his Christian beliefs, the conditional job offer was withdrawn. Following a second interview addressing his beliefs and how he would carry out his duties, Touchstone did not reinstate the offer.
The Employment Tribunal found that Touchstone had directly discriminated against Ngole when it initially withdrew the offer, but accepted its decision not to reinstate it after a second interview. In February, the Employment Appeal Tribunal found flaws in the tribunal’s analysis of Touchstone’s reasons for a second interview and its decision not to reinstate the job offer. It said these parts of the case should be reconsidered by the Employment Tribunal.
Ngole is challenging the decision to send his case back to the same tribunal and same panel for reconsideration. He instead wants the Court of Appeal to rule that the established facts already demonstrate direct discrimination and that another Employment Tribunal hearing is unnecessary, or that reconsideration should be carried out by a different tribunal.
His appeal also challenges whether employers can subject applicants to additional questioning or exclude them from employment based on assumptions about how their protected beliefs might affect others. The hearing will run over two days at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, starting on Monday.