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In July 2024, Waterstones was criticised for dismissing Tilly Fitzgerald, a bookseller and book influencer, who told author Christina Dalcher on X (formally Twitter) that she was “going to throw away her books” in response to Dalcher’s gender-critical beliefs.

It was in response to Dalcher’s endorsement of SEEN Publishing, a network for those “concerned about the impact of gender ideology” and the safeguarding of women’s rights.

Waterstones responded that Fitzgerald had been dismissed for breaching the company’s social media policy, not for expressing her beliefs.

Fitzgerald said that she had disagreed with Dalcher’s views and that the books she was going to throw away were her personal copies, not Waterstones’ stock.

This isn’t the first time there has been a dispute between gender-critical feminists and trans rights campaigners. Many have made it to the Employment Tribunal and damages have been awarded in many cases.

But what can employers learn about managing their employee’s beliefs?

(Please note that this article is looking solely at an employer’s duty to its employees, and isn’t entering the debate around sex and gender identity.)

Don’t be influenced by your own views

Many employers have been swayed by their own views on debates such as this. But it doesn’t matter what an employer thinks. What matters is what the law says.

The Equality Act 2010 makes it illegal to discriminate against someone based on religion or philosophical beliefs. For a belief to be protected, it must:

• be genuinely held;
• be more than just an opinion or viewpoint;
• affect how the person lives their life;
• concern a substantial aspect of human life or behaviour; and
• be worthy of respect, in that it can’t be incompatible with the fundamental rights of others.

Philosophical beliefs are extremely important to the people who hold them, and naturally there will be others who hold opposing beliefs, as we’ve seen between Fitzgerald and Dalcher. However, the fact that someone has taken offence isn’t the same as a comment or remark being considered to be objectively offensive. This was the decision of the Employment Tribunal when Rachel Meade, who shared gender-critical views online, was successful in her discrimination claim against Westminster City Council and Social Work England.

Don’t double down in defence

Sometimes, employers are so sure they’ve done the right thing that they neglect fair process. So if a claim like this was heard by the Employment Tribunal, the employer might see itself being penalised further with uplifts or costs orders, or even having the claim dismissed entirely.

Business reputation

Employers obviously want to protect their reputation, especially where so many employees and companies have a social media presence and it’s easy to air grievances online. But protecting reputation shouldn’t come at the expense of fair process and employees’ rights.

Take a balanced approach

When approaching instances such as this, it’s important to know when to support causes and when to remain neutral.

For example, if you fundraise for a specific interest group then allow employees who disagree on religious or philosophical grounds to opt out without consequence. Alternatively, consider inviting all staff, and not just one particular group or the C-suite, to review policies for how they relate and impact as many communities and groups as possible.

But what if some beliefs go too far?

Some views are wholly incompatible with the fundamental rights of others, such as holocaust denial or race supremacy, and are therefore not worthy of respect in today’s society nor are they protected by the Equality Act.

Just because an opinion is divisive, it doesn’t mean it meets the threshold of being unworthy of respect. But unless it’s already been tested in court or a tribunal, such as with Ashers Baking Company where the owners refused to make a cake with a slogan supporting same-sex marriage and the Supreme Court held that the owners couldn’t be forced to promote a message they fundamentally disagreed with, it’s very risky to make assumptions as to what views are and aren’t protected.

So what should you do if an employee’s beliefs may impact your business?

Again, prevention is always better than cure, so employers should ensure that there are adequate and fair policies in place, such as on social media, grievances, bullying and harassment, and dignity at work.

All policies that are in place must apply equally to all employees, beliefs and religions. If employees are prevented from speaking on certain issues then the policy could discriminate against persons who hold said beliefs. Instead, they should be clear that employees are entitled to their views and free to express them respectfully and to create a tolerant workplace.

Further, it’s worth looking at how an employee manifests their belief, and whether they express them in an ‘objectionable’ manner, such as mis-gendering, dead-naming or otherwise. Even if a belief is protected, employees aren’t entitled to harass those who disagree.

Ultimately, people hold beliefs that we don’t agree with. But unless those beliefs are wholly incompatible with the fundamental rights of others, employers will simply have to accept that an employee holds beliefs that they disagree with.

Again, it doesn’t matter whether the employer agrees with the belief or not. What matters is the law and whether that belief is protected or not.