Sarah Mbuyi, a 31 year old a Belgian national from
Tottenham, north London, was dismissed in January from Newpark Childcare in
Shepherd’s Bush for gross misconduct after answering her colleague’s questions
on religion and gay marriage with the view it made for a life of sin.
Miss Mbuyi claimed the sacking breached religious freedom
enshrined by European law.
Mbuyi, from Tottenham, North London, was sacked after a year
working with newborn children.
She denied the charge of harassment, claiming she answered
her colleague with views that reflected her faith, adding that her colleague
was angry she could not marry in church.
The employment tribunal at Watford acknowledged that though
Mbuyi’s former employer harbours no anti-Christian policies, it failed to treat
Mbuyi’s views with impartiality.
The Christian Legal Centre (CLC), which supported Miss
Mbuyi’s claim, said the decision to sack her on the grounds of her religious
views had been based on ‘stereotypical assumptions about her and her beliefs’,
rather than outright misconduct.
The tribunal said Miss Mbuyi’s beliefs were ‘worthy of
respect in a democratic society’ and were not incompatible with human dignity
or ‘the fundamental rights of others’.
‘This is a brave judgment and comes as a great relief to
Miss Mbuyi and to all of us at the Christian Legal Centre,’ Andrea Minichiello
Williams, barrister and chief executive of the CLC, said.
An internal investigation by Newpark Childcare into the
exchange between Miss Mbuyi and her colleague had not checked out, the tribunal
ruled, because the Miss Mbuyi’s employer had ‘pre-judged the outcome accepting
unchallenged evidence that supported the stereotypical assumption and/or
interpreted Miss Mbuyi’s evidence in an almost impossible way’.
Tiffany Clutterbuck, a director of Newpark Childcare, told
The Sunday Times the court’s ruling disregarded ‘robust policies and rules to
ensure our nursery is inclusive and supportive for our children and staff’ and
that the decision to dismiss Miss Mbuyi was made ‘with a view to protecting
that culture.’
‘Our priority will always be to provide an environment where
every child feels like he or she belongs,’ Miss Clutterbuck told the newspaper
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