Disbelief in structural racism can be protected, employment tribunal says

Opposition to critical race theory can be considered a philosophical belief and is a protected characteristic under UK equality laws, an employment judge has ruled in a discrimination claim brought against Acas, the government’s workplace conciliation service.

In a judgment dated 11 September 2023, Employment Judge Kirsty Ayre said that Sean Corby’s views on critical race theory—an academic framework that considers how racial bias is inherent in society—fall within the Equality Act 2010 and are a protected philosophical belief.

Judge Ayre, who presided over a three-day hearing at the Leeds Employment Tribunal, said Corby had clearly thought carefully and seriously about his beliefs and that they formed an important part of his identity, affecting the way Corby lives his life.

The three-person tribunal panel unanimously agreed that what Corby described as his philosophical beliefs are genuinely held and backed up by his own lived experience—of being married to a black woman and being the father of black children.

The tribunal agreed that Corby’s beliefs were grounded in a philosophical system, and that the comments he posted on a communication platform—which form the basis of his claim—all stemmed from that system.

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