Word: lawfulness
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...sued the company for unfair dismissal under Britain's six-year-old Religion and Belief Regulations, which make it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the grounds of their religious or philosophical beliefs. Grainger argued that Nicholson's climate-change convictions did not qualify for protection under the law. But in a landmark ruling on Nov. 3, Justice Michael Burton found 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 law]." (See the top 10 religious stories...
...Nicholson's case came about because of a peculiarity of British law. Prior to 2003, Britain had no statute that protected employees from religious discrimination. The Religion and Belief Regulations were meant to remedy this. But because the law offered only a vague definition of "religious or philosophical beliefs," it has fallen to judges to interpret it and define which beliefs deserve protection. In the most important ruling so far, Burton's generous interpretation of the law will have far-ranging and complicated ramifications, employment experts say. (See pictures of colorful religious festivals...
...Caroline Doran, an employment specialist at the London law firm Sprecher Grier Halberstam LLP, tells TIME the decision will "result in a tidal wave of philosophical-related litigation to employment tribunals." And because employees claiming unfair dismissal on the grounds of discrimination are entitled to much higher payouts than those with standard claims, the strain on employers could be immense...
...experts agree. Victoria Phillips, head of employment law at the London firm Thompson's Solicitors, says Burton's ruling laid out several tests to prevent frivolous claims: to qualify for protection, beliefs must focus on a weighty and substantial aspect of human life, they must have a certain level of seriousness and importance, and they must be worthy of respect in a democratic society and not be in conflict with the fundamental rights of others. Along with climate change, "the political philosophies of socialism, Marxism, communism or free-market capitalism might qualify," Burton said in his ruling. But he noted...
...certainly would advise companies to be careful about how they treat employees with strongly held political beliefs, but I think common sense will prevail," Phillips says. "There were similar concerns among employers about a flood of claims when a law was brought in to protect whistle-blowers in 1998. But the courts have been pretty astute at seeing through bogus claims. I suspect a similar situation with this law...