Kristie Higgs: Court of Appeal to give judgment on crucial Christian freedoms case
10 February 2025 Issued by: Christian ConcernFrom 10.30am on Wednesday (Feb 12), the second highest court in the UK will give a ruling on the high-profile and seminal legal case of sacked Christian school assistant, Kristie Higgs.
Culminating a six-year legal battle, supported from the beginning by the Christian Legal Centre, the outcome will shape the law for years to come on free speech and freedom to express faith in the UK.
In 2019, Mrs Higgs was sacked for gross misconduct by Farmor’s Secondary School in Gloucestershire, and had her Christian beliefs compared to Neo-Nazism, for two Facebook posts.
The posts were made under her maiden name on a private account to her friends, which had no mention of her employer.
The posts were made in response to extreme gender identity books being introduced under the radar in her son’s Church of England primary school.
The first post shared a petition against compulsory sex education. The second post shared an article about the dangers of extreme transgender ideology in children’s books being introduced into UK and US schools.
An anonymous complaint was made about the posts to the headteacher which led to Mrs Higgs’ facing a six- hour interrogation, being investigated, and eventually sacked for allegedly bringing the school into disrepute.
Mrs Higgs brought legal action for direct discrimination on the grounds of her Christian beliefs.
The legal battle that has followed has been plagued by delay and controversy with repeated recusals and evidence of transgender, Stonewall and extreme sex education activists sitting as lay members on the presiding panels.
After Mrs Higgs and her legal team overcame all of these nefarious obstacles, and securing a partial victory in the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the Court of Appeal will now determine to what extent Equality law permits censorship by an employer of an employee’s free speech – specifically, expressions of the Christian faith in private posts on social media.
Court of Appeal hearing
The case has significant ramifications for Christian freedom in the workplace and the freedom of any employee to express biblical principles on marriage and family, some of which may express opposition to LGBTQI+ ideology, in public or private, without the fear of losing their livelihoods.
The hearing in October 2024 at the Court of Appeal was held before Lord Justice Underhill, Lord Justice Bean and Lady Justice Falk.
With five interveners in the case, the court heard submissions from the authoritative official human rights watchdog, Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
EHRC lawyers argued that labelling Christians who believe homosexuality to be sinful as homophobic amounts to “stereotyping” and illegal discrimination. They added that the same principle applies to stereotyping people with ‘gender-critical’ beliefs as transphobic.
They also spoke about the “phenomenon” of employers being pressured by third parties to punish employees for exercising free speech has now “become more common”.
Profoundly important case
Ahead of the Court of Appeal hearing, Mrs Higgs had said: “I wouldn’t want any parent to go through what I have over the past five years. Nobody should be sacked for raising the concerns that I did in the way that I did.
“One of the biggest things for me was that this dangerous anti-Christian ideology was being introduced into a Church of England school. I could see that what was happening was harmful, and no parents appeared to know about it.
“My posts were a warning and so much of what has happened in the debate over the past five years has vindicated me. Transgender ideology and extreme sex education is harmful to children and should have no place in schools, especially not Christian primary schools.
“I pray now that the Court of Appeal will make the right judgment and will make a ruling that protects Christian employees and parents’ freedom to express their beliefs without fear or being silenced.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “This case is profoundly important for free speech and Christian freedoms. I believe its outcome will set an important legal precedent for many years to come.
“The outcome of this case is of major significance, and jurisdictions across the world will have their eye on it. It has been a long six-year journey to get to this point and we are praying that justice will be done and that common sense will prevail.
“We pray now for justice for Kristie and that there will be a ruling that not only protects Christian freedoms, but also protects freedom for everyone in the UK.”
Further background
In October 2018, Mrs Higgs shared two posts on her private Facebook page under her maiden name. Her profile did not mention and had no links to her employer.
Mrs Higgs had made the posts after discovering that the Church of England (CofE) school attended by her child (not the school where she was employed) planned, under the radar, to introduce ‘No Outsiders’ books on confusing and harmful gender identity. The books included ‘My princess boy’ and ‘Red: A crayon’s story’.
The first post encouraged friends and family to sign a petition challenging the government’s plans to introduce Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) to children in primary schools. The petition was not created by Mrs Higgs.
The post flagged that a government consultation on plans to make RSE mandatory for children as young as four was coming to a close. It asked its readers to sign a nationwide petition calling on the government to uphold the rights of parents to have children educated in line with their religious beliefs.
A similar petition was subsequently signed by over 115,000 people and was debated in Parliament.
In the second post, Mrs Higgs shared an article from Judybeth.com on the rise of transgender ideology in children’s books in American schools and added her own comment: “This is happening in our primary schools now.”
The article critiqued the same LGBT ‘No Outsiders’ books promoting transgenderism to children in her son’s school.
Since Mrs Higgs made these posts, her concerns have been vindicated.
In 2023, then Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, ordered an urgent review into the extreme and sexualised materials being used in RSE.
In December 2023, the government released long awaited draft transgender guidance for schools which said: “Other pupils, parents and teachers may hold protected religious or other beliefs that conflict with the decision that the school or college has made, these are legitimate views that must be respected.”
The guidance adds that schools and colleges now have specific legal duties that are framed by a child’s biological sex.
One anonymous complaint
Mrs Higgs has said that her aim at the time in 2018 had been to raise awareness among parents of the Government’s education plans and the transgender books being taught in primary schools.
However, one anonymous complaint about Mrs Higgs’ posts were made to the headteacher of Farmor’s Secondary School, Matthew Evans, where she had worked as a pastoral administrator without complaint for seven years.
The email said: “…a member of your staff who works directly with children has been posting homophobic and prejudiced views against the lgbt community on Facebook … [and] that this individual may exert influence over the vulnerable pupils that may end up in isolation for whatever reason. I find these views offensive and I am sure that when you look into it, you will understand my concern. …”
Mr Evans responded to the complainant saying it would be helpful to forward screenshots of “any similarly offensive posts”. The complainant emailed back, attaching screenshots of other Facebook posts made by the claimant, further explaining:
“I’m aware that not everyone has liberal views like myself but I do feel that people working directly with children should refrain from posting this type of view on social media. I know of several children at Farmor’s who might fit into the category of person your staff member seems to find so obnoxious, friends of my children even. …”
Lawyers representing Mrs Higgs have since argued in court that the ‘stereotyping’ of Mrs Higgs’ beliefs by the anonymous complainant was far more discriminatory than anything she had posted.
Six-hour interrogation
Mrs Higgs was subsequently suspended and, shaking and tearful, was ordered to leave the school premises.
An investigation report followed which recommended she be dismissed for gross misconduct because:
“By choosing to make the posts and stating that she believes in God’s Law and not Man’s Law, I believe that, on the balance of probability, this means that she holds views that are discriminatory against groups of people with protected characteristics.”
The report added that: “On the balance of probability this would be interpreted that she holds illegal discriminatory views that are not in line with the Equality Act 2010 and therefore has breached the Conduct Policy”.
Sacked for gross misconduct, Mrs Higgs was accused of ‘illegal discrimination’, ‘serious inappropriate use of social media’, and ‘online comments that could bring the school into disrepute and damage the reputation of the school.’
No evidence has ever been found that her posts brought the school into disrepute.
Subjected to a six-hour interrogation during a disciplinary hearing, Mrs Higgs’ posts, and the Christian beliefs that had shaped them, were described as akin to that of a ‘pro-Nazi right-wing extremist.’
After launching legal action, an Employment Tribunal ruling in October 2020, however, found against Mrs Higgs, tenuously judging that the school had been right to dismiss her as someone reading her posts could have perceived and concluded that she was ‘transphobic’ and ‘homophobic.’
Lawyers appealed this ruling, arguing that it ‘erred in law’, was ‘perverse’ and that: “no reasonable and informed person, having read the [Mrs Higgs’] post, could conclude anything other than the posts were a critique of a certain approach to education, whether held by members of the LGBT community or non-LGBT secular liberals.”
Double recusal
Mrs Higgs’ appeal of this ruling and pursuit of justice has faced a series of unusual and, at times, unprecedented obstacles.
In July 2022, Mrs Higgs’ appeal was postponed after Mrs Justice Eady was forced to recuse trans activist, Edward Lord, from sitting as a lay member on the presiding panel.
It transpired that Lord, associated with Mermaids and Stonewall, had made a series of public statements relating to key issues in Mrs Higgs’ case, including the extent to which individuals should be restricted from making comments or statements regarding LGBT ideology, especially transgenderism.
In January 2023, it was also revealed in the media that senior members of the CofE and the judiciary had met at an undisclosed date to discuss Mrs Higgs’ case. The motivations, reasoning and details for such a high-level meeting are not known.
Lightning struck twice in March 2023, when in the lead up to the rescheduled appeal hearing following Edward Lord’s recusal, it was discovered that Andrew Morris, the former Assistant General Secretary of National Education Union (NEU), would be presiding as a lay member.
Under Mr Morris’ watch, during the time frame that the government is set to urgently review its ‘inappropriate’ sex education guidance, the NEU consistently took a strong position in favour of making both relationship and sex education mandatory in primary schools.
The NEU at this time was also a national leader in encouraging teaching children at primary schools about same-sex relationships and transgenderism.
Another activist on panel unearthed
It can now also be revealed that at Mrs Higgs’ original employment tribunal hearing in September 2020, which she lost, another activist was on the presiding panel as a lay magistrate.
Evidence online reveals that Mrs Debbie England, described as a Human Resources Specialist, is a Stonewall advocate.
A presentation by Sums Consulting for Higher Education, called ‘Recruiting the Right Team’, features Mrs England and says:
‘Debbie led UWE’s equality and diversity team, during her tenure UWE achieved highest Higher Education Sector ranking in Stonewall index and Athena Swan accreditation at both University wide and departmental levels.’
From 2013-22, Mrs England was also an advisor Common Purpose, a non-profit that promotes equality and diversity and the advancement of the LGBTQI+ community, with promotional ‘about us’ videos that include the Pride flag.
If known at the time, a recusal application would have been highly likely.
This is a recurring theme, with a series of recusals over a ‘perception of bias’ in other high-profile Christian freedom cases this year, with one leading to a formal rebuke.
Following the recusals in Mrs Higgs’ case, President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal, Mrs Justice Eady, was forced to hear the appeal ‘judge alone’.
Justice Eady subsequently granted Mrs Higgs permission to appeal the original tribunal ruling, but instead of allowing all of her grounds of appeal to proceed, she denied her an outright win by ruling that the case should be remitted back to the Employment Tribunal to be heard again.
Higgs’ lawyers appealed this ruling with Rt. Hon. Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing who last year allowed the case to proceed on all grounds to the Court of Appeal.
