...even before the bill can get voted on!
The Free Speech Union said: 'This is a landmark victory, not least because it renders the Government's efforts to roll out an official definition of 'Islamophobia' largely pointless.
Mr Lee, an atheist, holds the belief that Islam 'particularly in a traditional form - rather than a reformed, modernised, moderate and Westernised form - is problematic and deserving of criticism', the tribunal heard. He argued that his intention is to raise legitimate questions and generate debate, saying that the IFoA's treatment of his beliefs is 'problematic' for western democracies.
They sacked him for his beliefs, not even expressed in the workplace, but on social media.
At a preliminary hearing held by video link at the London Central Employment Tribunal in July of this year, Employment Judge David Khan ruled that Mr Lee had established that he genuinely held the pleaded belief, which meets the definition of a 'protected belief' under section 10(2) of the Equality Act 2010. The judge wrote: 'I do not find that these tweets and the pleaded belief are mutually exclusive. Nor incompatible.
'I find that the claimant's evidence in relation to these tweets, that he was inveighing against the offending doctrines and practices because they continued to be treated as authentic and officially sanctioned by Islamic leaders, was not inconsistent with the pleaded belief.'
Another triumph for the Free Speech Union!
'If describing Islam as "backward", "a con trick", "a dangerous cult", "the root of the evil" and calling the Prophet Mohammed a "monster" are all expressions of an "Islamic-critical" belief that's protected by the Equality Act, trying to ban people from saying these things in the workplace won't be possible.
Not that it'll stop HR Karens from trying in future, after all, it's not their money, is it?
'The judge in this case has grasped the important distinction between disrespecting a belief and disrespecting a person who holds that belief. 'Too often, robust criticism of Islam is treated as a form of harassment against Muslims and conflating the two has had a chilling effect on free speech.'
Indeed so. I hope the Met Police is watching this verdict closely.
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