A teaching assistant who was fired over comments on same-sex marriage, abortion and Sharia law was not unfairly dismissed, an employment tribunal has ruled.
Ben Dybowski claimed his dismissal from an Anglican school in Cardiff was discriminatory against his protected beliefs.
Mr Dybowski, who is a Catholic and describes himself as a “campaigner”, made the comments at a staff training session on 23 March 2023 provided by Diverse Cymru Training.
He asked whether expressing his personal views could be considered discrimination – and went on to give examples, including that true marriage is a union between a man and a woman, human life begins at conception and saying he was critical of some aspects of Sharia law.
Judge Moore found the claimant had “a right to hold his beliefs” but was “under the same prohibitions as the rest of society to not discriminate or harass others”.
She also found the school was “entitled to want to exercise a degree of control over how beliefs were manifested within the school environment in accordance with the school’s values”.
The judge ruled that Mr Dybowski’s views on Sharia law were an opinion, rather than a protected belief.
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The day after the training event, the headteacher at The Bishop of Llandaff High School told Mr Dybowski he did not want those views shared while he worked at the school, after “a number of staff expressed concern”.
Mr Dybowski told headteacher Mr Belli that he had “regularly expressed” such views on social media.
The headteacher reminded him of social media guidelines and the Education Workforce Council (EWC) regulations, explaining that expressing his views in a public forum could potentially harm students or staff, especially given the school’s diverse community and values, the tribunal heard.
Mr Dybowski quietly took opportunities to discuss his views with pupils and staff on a number of occasions, the tribunal was told.
The judge said it was “reasonable” for Mr Belli to have become very concerned and concluded that he could not trust that Mr Dybowski would refrain from inappropriate discussions with pupils.
Mr Dybowski was recruited through an employment agency, which referred him to the EWC.
He was dismissed on 25 May 2023. The claimant raised a grievance and asserted his dismissal was discriminatory because of his “religion, i.e. ‘protected characteristics’ under the Equality Act”.
Mr Dybowski’s claims of harassment and direct discrimination related to his religious and protected beliefs were dismissed, with the judge saying the school could exercise a degree of control over how beliefs “manifested” in accordance with its values.
The tribunal also ruled that his criticisms of Sharia law were an opinion and therefore not a protected belief.
An independent investigation was commissioned and, when interviewed, Mr Dybowski accepted the views expressed were “controversial” but that he had been told the training was a “safe space”.
The tribunal heard that the school received “hate mail” and “threats” after Mr Dybowski contacted some newspapers and media outlets as part of a “media campaign”.
