BELIEVING IN BBC'S ETHOS IS EQUIVALENT TO A FAITH

This article appears in today's Daily Mail:

Believing in BBC's ethos is equivalent to a faith, job tribunal rules 

By Steve Doughty & Claire Ellicot

Rules to prevent religious discrimination can now also be used to protect a belief in the BBC’s ethos of public service broadcasting, a tribunal has ruled.

Its extraordinary decision elevates the BBC’s core principle to a place in the law equivalent to Christianity.

And the move leaves the way clear for long-serving employee Devan Maistry to sue the Corporation for wrongful dismissal.

South African-born Mr Maistry, who worked for the BBC Asian Network, says he suffered discrimination for six years until he was dismissed last year.

He has filed a claim for ‘religious or belief discrimination’, which allegedly took place against his philosophical view that ‘public service broadcasting has the higher purpose of promoting cultural interchange and social cohesion’.

Birmingham employment tribunal chairman Pam Hughes decided Mr Maistry has a worthy case, and gave him the right to a full hearing later this year.

In doing so, the tribunal chairman established the principle that Mr Maistry’s love of public service broadcasting amounted to a belief which should have the same protection from discrimination that the law gives to followers of religious faiths.

In doing so, the tribunal chairman established the principle that Mr Maistry’s love of public service broadcasting amounted to a belief which should have the same protection from discrimination that the law gives to followers of religious faiths.

It is not clear exactly how the broadcaster is accused of treating him unfairly. Mr Maistry would not comment when asked about the basis of his case.

A lawyer for the BBC said it had not even been explained to the Corporation how it had allegedly discriminated against the producer’s philosophical beliefs.

Laws defending workers from discrimination over faith were passed in 2003.

But in the past two years they have been extended by the courts to cover political and fringe interests including views on climate change and animal rights activism.

At the same time, a series of cases have dismissed the importance of Christian beliefs.

Most recently, a couple were told they were unfit to foster children because they could not in conscience tell a child that it was OK to be homosexual.

At the tribunal, the BBC said the idea that belief in public sector broadcasting was the same as a religion was ‘absurd’.

Its lawyer, Tariq Sadiq, said if Mr Maistry’s claim succeeded, then belief in the aims of any public sector organisation – or even a private sector firm’s mission statement – would count as philosophical beliefs.

Mr Sadiq said: ‘A belief that the aim of the NHS should first and foremost be to look after the health and welfare of its patients could, if the claimant were correct, amount to belief for the purposes of the 2003 regulations, but it would be absurd for that to be the case.’

But in her ruling, Miss Hughes said: ‘The claimant had a genuine and strongly held belief in what I will describe in short as the higher purpose of public service broadcasting. It is clearly of great personal significance to him.’

Devan Maistry’s case is the latest in a string of decisions to rule that everyday opinions should have the same status as religious beliefs.

Two years ago, a tribunal found that company executive Tim Nicholson, a firm believer in climate change, was wrongly dismissed after objecting to his company’s use of flights and cars.

That case set a precedent and, this year, animal rights activist Joe Hashman successfully argued that he was wrongly sacked from his garden centre job after his activities were discovered. He said his beliefs should be protected by his employer.