Tribunal rules woman not unlawfully discriminated against over beliefs

A woman who claims she was unlawfully discriminated against by her former employer for her beliefs on sex and gender has had her case dismissed by an employment tribunal.

Sara Morrison had brought a case against Belfast Film Festival (BFF) where she worked as an inclusion and audience development coordinator.

Morrison claimed she was forced out of her job after she made a speech at a Let Women Speak rally in 2023 which was followed by a BFF investigation into her participation.

The tribunal found the evidence did not support Morrison's claims and dismissed them in their entirety.

The BFF had consistently denied her claims.

Morrison believes people cannot change their biological sex.

After the investigation began she went off work citing stress, before finally resigning.

The judgment, published on Friday, found that after Morrison's speech at the rally "a number of external organisations raised concerns" related to "the claimant's participation in the rally and its perceived incompatibility with her role as inclusion/audience development co-ordinator".

The judgment said BFF subsequently "initiated a fact-finding investigation".

The tribunal found that the decision to commence the investigation was "not influenced by [Morrison's] political opinion itself but by concerns regarding the impact of the situation upon matters central to [Morrison's] role".

The judgment concluded "the decision to initiate the fact-finding investigation did not constitute less favourable treatment on the ground of political opinion".

The tribunal panel, made up of Judge Sturgeon and panel member Michael McKeown, said when dealing with direct discrimination, it assessed whether or not BFF acted "because of [Morrison's] political opinion or because of objectively identified issues arising within [Morrison's] stakeholder-facing role".

It concluded the acts Morrison had complained about arose from "operational requirements, stakeholder concerns, contractual obligations, payroll administration, organisational resources, grievance procedures, sickness absence or administrative errors".

The judgment stated: "The tribunal therefore concludes that [Morrison's] political opinion was not the reason, nor any part of the reason, for the treatment complained of."

Regarding harassment, the tribunal said it accepted that "a number of the matters complained of arose in the context of [Morrison's] publicly expressed political opinion and that criticism of the [Morrison's] views was communicated by stakeholders on multiple occasions".

The judgment went on: "The tribunal has therefore considered carefully whether [BFF's] own conduct amounted to unwanted conduct on the ground of political opinion."

It concluded that this was not the case.

It added: " [BFF's] actions consisted of investigating complaints, communicating with relevant stakeholders, addressing reputational concerns, administering contractual matters and operating grievance procedures.

"The tribunal does not find that these actions themselves amounted to hostility towards the claimant's political opinion."

The tribunal went on to say it was not satisfied that any of the conduct "had the purpose or effect of violating [Morrison's] dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for her".

It also dismissed her claim of constructive dismissal.

Morrison had received funding for her case from Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

During the speech she made at the rally, Morrison outlined concerns around protecting women's safety and privacy.

She made comments about keeping men out of women's spaces and criticised a number of local women's organisations.

The rally in Belfast city centre was also addressed by Kellie-Jay Keen - a campaigner for women's rights.

A counter event by local LGBT groups and activists opposed to her views was held at the same time nearby.

Ms Morrison submitted that following her attendance at the rally, she was subjected to online abuse and harassment, which she reported to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.