The court found that the dismissed Christian school employee’s right to freedom of speech was “violated.”

The Court of Appeal has heard that a Christian school employee “breached” her rights to free speech and faced “direct discrimination” when she was dismissed for sharing social media posts about teaching about LGBT+ relationships.

Lawyers for Kristie Higgs, 47, claim she lost her job at Farmor’s School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2019 because of the “unlawful stereotyping” of her beliefs about “gender and sexual ethics” as “homophobic and transphobic”.

A 47-year-old mother of two from Fairford, who worked as a pastoral administrator and work experience manager, was dismissed after she shared posts on Facebook criticizing plans to teach LGBT+ relationships in primary schools.

On Wednesday, her lawyers asked senior judges to uphold her claim against the school for alleged unlawful discrimination, the latest stage in her years-long legal battle.

The school previously denied dismissing Ms Higgs because of her religious beliefs and said she was dismissed because of the language used in the posts.

Before the hearing, her supporters prayed outside the courthouse and held posters with messages claiming they had lost their jobs for expressing their views.

Ms Higgs told reporters: “My posts reflect biblical, true Christian teaching on gender and sexuality.

She added: “It’s not just about me. It cannot be true that so many Christians are losing their jobs or facing punishment for sharing biblical truth and our Christian beliefs.”

Mrs Higgs shared and commented on posts that raised concerns about relationships education at her son’s Church of England primary school.

Students were to become familiar with the “No Strangers in Our School” program, a series of books teaching about the Equality Act in primary schools.

Ms Higgs, who posted under her maiden name on a private page, shared two posts with around 100 friends in October 2018.

One post referred to “brainwashing our children.”

An anonymous complaint was made to the school and Ms Higgs was suspended and, following a disciplinary hearing, dismissed for gross misconduct.

At Wednesday’s hearing in London, her lawyers filed an appeal against a June 2023 judgment of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), which ruled in her favor and referred the case back to an employment tribunal for a new decision.

Richard O’Dair, on behalf of Ms Higgs, told judges in written submissions that despite “winning” at the EAT, it was “not necessary” to remand the case.

O’Dair said the EAT had provided “highly unsatisfactory guidance” which meant Ms Higgs risked being “deprived of justice once again”.

Her posts were “political speech contributing to ongoing debate on a matter of public interest” and “a manifestation of her religious beliefs,” judges were told.

No posts amounted to expressions of homophobia or transphobia in the sense of disliking people based on protected characteristics

There was “overwhelming evidence” that Ms Higgs suffered “belief discrimination,” O’Dair said, adding that the school’s alleged interference with her rights under the European Convention on Human Rights “was not provided for by law.”

“It follows that (the school) has breached (Ms Higgs’) rights under the Convention and her claim must be upheld,” he added.

Mr O’Dair said the person who made the complaint was “guilty of unlawful stereotyping and therefore discrimination” and the school had “adopted the discriminatory views of this third party”.

He added: “None of the posts amounted to homophobia or transphobia in the sense of disliking people based on protected characteristics. To make such an assumption was stereotypical and therefore directly discriminatory.”

He added that Ms Higgs worked with LGBT students and “there was never any suggestion that she discriminated against them”.

Protecting the school’s reputation and the rights of others “does not justify” its “exceptionally harsh” dismissal, the court was told, with Mr O’Dair saying there were “extremely speculative and vague concerns” about how people might mistakenly interpret her posts and perceive the school.

If the school had concerns about the reception of the “flowery and provocative language of the posts,” it could have asked Ms. Higgs to clarify her views in a follow-up post or to be more careful in the future, her lawyer said.

In a 2020 ruling, an employment tribunal found that Ms Higgs’ religion was a “protected characteristic” under the Equality Act, but the school lawfully dismissed her.

Sean Jones KC, representing the school, said in written submissions that he considered the tribunal needed “fuller reasons” and that remitting the case was the “appropriate course of action”.

He said the school accepted that the Facebook posts were a “manifestation” of Ms Higgs’ beliefs and some of them were legally protected.

“However, the posts could equally be read as an expression of homophobic or transphobic beliefs that cannot be protected,” Jones said.

He continued: “(Ms Higgs) was dismissed not because of the manifestation (of her beliefs), but because the manner in which they were manifested could reasonably cause, and did cause, others to believe that she was expressing homophobic or transphobic views “.

Ms Higgs’ case is being supported by the Christian Legal Center and the court has also allowed the Christian Teachers’ Association, the Free Speech Union, Sex Matters, the Council of Archbishops of the Church of England and the Equality and Human Rights Commission to intervene.

The appeal to Lord Justice Underhill, Lord Justice Bean and Lady Justice Falk is expected to end on Thursday, with a written judgment to be delivered at a later date.