Oxford man demands employment law ruling on green beliefs

Posted 07/10/2009

An executive from Oxford has commenced a bid to have his environmental views recognised under employment law relating to religious discrimination.

Tim Nicholson, 42, has alleged that he was unfairly dismissed by property company Grainger after his stance on climate change and carbon reduction brought him into conflict with bosses.

He claims that his views were treated with contempt by chief executive Rupert Dickinson and ultimately contributed to his sacking.

The plaintiff is now arguing to have his green standpoint recognised as being comparable to a religious belief in order to claim for unfair dismissal.

Legal representatives for Grainger maintain that Mr Nicholson’s environmentalism is an opinion rather than a lifestyle choice, while the executive is to argue that it represents a “strongly held philosophical belief”.

Last week, new figures from the Tribunals Service showed that the number of employees making claims for issues relating to unfair dismissal and redundancy has risen in the last year.