Disciplinary action for quoting Bible passage was not discriminatory

The EAT hold that a warning given to a Christian for breaching prison policy by quoting a passage from the Bible that certain types of sexually-related behaviour is unrighteous did not constitute indirect discrimination.
religion

In Trayhorn v The Secretary of State for Justice, Trayhorn (T) is a Pentecostal Christian, and an ordained minister. A complaint was made that T had made comments during a service that marriage between homosexuals was wrong and needed stopping. T was instructed not to preach at services in the future, but while leading singing, he quoted a Bible passage about unrighteous sexually-related behaviour. A complaint was made that T’s “sermon had included God hating prostitutes and gays”. T was issued with a formal warning for breaching the prison’s disciplinary and equality policies. The EAT upheld an ET’s decision that T had not been indirectly discriminated against. There was no evidence that the prison’s policies disadvantaged Christians or Pentecostals as a group, nor did they put either T as an individual or individual Christians or Pentecostals at a disadvantage.


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