The EAT recently upheld a tribunal’s rejection of a claim that a Roman Catholic was not discriminated against when he was not allowed to take five weeks’ leave for a religious festival.
Gareddu v London Underground Ltd – What happened?
For a number of years Mr Gareddu, a Roman Catholic from Sardinia, had been allowed by his employer, London Underground, to take five consecutive weeks’ annual leave in order to visit his family and attend religious festivals. When his manager changed in 2015, his application for the five weeks’ leave was rejected and he was told he could take a maximum of three weeks’ time off to attend the festivals.
On learning that his application had been rejected, Mr Garredu raised a grievance with his employer, arguing that it was religious discrimination. This grievance was rejected on the grounds that the London Underground did not believe that his attendance was required in Sardinia for five weeks every summer. The employer argued that attending the festivals was a personal choice, rather than a strict requirement of faith.
The EAT agreed, believing his motivation was to spend time with his family, not to attend the festivals. They proved this by finding evidence that he attended only nine of a possible 17 religious events.
What was the verdict?
According to the EAT, the tribunal “simply assessed whether or not the asserted requirement to attend the series of festivals for a five-week period was genuine” and then “the tribunal found that the true or genuine reason for wanting a five-week period was not the claimant’s religious beliefs or their manifestation but was his wish to be with his family.” In conclusion, it was decided that the grounds for the annual leave rejection were not discriminatory.
In a nutshell…
If an employee requests extended annual leave on the basis of religious commitment and it is proven that they have alternative, more dominant, motives for the leave, it may not be seen as religious discrimination for the leave to be rejected.
For more information, visit http://79.170.40.162/enlightenhr.com or contact Alison Benney:
alison@enlightenhr.com
Tel: 01803 469466
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