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I use a legal update aggregator that dumps into my inbox every morning a collection of articles about recent cases in my areas of interest. (These are usually pieces written by law forms to highlight their specialist knowledge in such fields.) One such area is employment law and today my attention was caught by this story:
A belief in a 'conspiracy theory' surrounding 7/7 and 9/11 terrorist attacks is not a philosophical belief under UK discrimination law
In Farrell v South Yorkshire Police Authority, an Employment Tribunal has considered whether a dismissed employee’s belief in a conspiracy theory surrounding a ‘New World Order’ and the terrorist attacks in 2001 and 2005 constituted a philosophical belief, such as to attract protection under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 (“the Regulations”).
The article goes on to explain just how Mr Farrell, a police intelligence analyst, was dismissed for holding view that, one might indeed think, could call into question his ability to perform his job:
Mr Farrell was employed as a Principal Intelligent [sic] Analyst by the South Yorkshire Police Authority. He claimed to hold a belief in a ‘New World Order’, under which a ‘global elite’ (including the UK and US governments and world financial institutions) were seeking to “introduce a secret satanic ideology to enslave the masses and claim control of the world’s resources”. To this end, he believed in particular that the UK and US governments perpetrated the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and 7 July 2005.
During his employment, Mr Farrell was asked to prepare a report for the South Yorkshire Police area, analysing the level of threats posed by various crimes (including terrorism). Mr Farrell made various comments in his report, specifically referring to his views regarding the New World Order and, in particular, his belief that the terrorist attacks in 2001 and 2005 were “sham” operations authorised by the US and UK governments “to divert attention from their own secret scheming and evil ways of the elite”. In light of the content of his report, Mr Farrell was invited to a disciplinary hearing. The South Yorkshire Police Authority took the view that Mr Farrell’s expression of his views was incompatible with his employment and that his position was therefore untenable. Mr Farrell was consequently dismissed.
As an aside, I do like that 'Intelligent Analyst'. Sadly, it seems that whilst Mr Farrell may indeed have been intelligent, he lacked somewhat in common sense, discrimination and the ability to reflect on the logic of one's own conclusions - all qualities, one might think, crucial to his job.
The full decision of the Employment Tribunal is available here (NB: large scanned PDF). It makes for very interesting reading. I'd say 'entertaining' but one shouldn't really take any pleasure in reading evidence of how a clearly smart and articulate person has headed off into woo-woo land. Nonetheless I confess to a degree of schadenfreude when I read the account of what happens when a full-blown conspiracy theorist is politely but exactingly cross-examined on the implications of his own theory. It seems that counsel for the police authority was able to lead Mr Farrell into the recursion of endless epicycles, as he was forced to concede that the only way his conspiracy theories could hang together was to keep on adding new levels of conspiracy on top.
Presumably, Mr Farrell will now add the Employment Tribunal too, alongside the Trilateral Commission, the Illuminati and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency*. If he goes to the Employment Appeal Tribunal with that as his central submission, I don't see him getting very far.
*They have photographs of everyone who drives, don't you know!
EDIT Second link flakey** so I've changed it.
**Doubtless due to the influence of [insert alphabet-soup covert agency of your choice]
A belief in a 'conspiracy theory' surrounding 7/7 and 9/11 terrorist attacks is not a philosophical belief under UK discrimination law
In Farrell v South Yorkshire Police Authority, an Employment Tribunal has considered whether a dismissed employee’s belief in a conspiracy theory surrounding a ‘New World Order’ and the terrorist attacks in 2001 and 2005 constituted a philosophical belief, such as to attract protection under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 (“the Regulations”).
The article goes on to explain just how Mr Farrell, a police intelligence analyst, was dismissed for holding view that, one might indeed think, could call into question his ability to perform his job:
Mr Farrell was employed as a Principal Intelligent [sic] Analyst by the South Yorkshire Police Authority. He claimed to hold a belief in a ‘New World Order’, under which a ‘global elite’ (including the UK and US governments and world financial institutions) were seeking to “introduce a secret satanic ideology to enslave the masses and claim control of the world’s resources”. To this end, he believed in particular that the UK and US governments perpetrated the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and 7 July 2005.
During his employment, Mr Farrell was asked to prepare a report for the South Yorkshire Police area, analysing the level of threats posed by various crimes (including terrorism). Mr Farrell made various comments in his report, specifically referring to his views regarding the New World Order and, in particular, his belief that the terrorist attacks in 2001 and 2005 were “sham” operations authorised by the US and UK governments “to divert attention from their own secret scheming and evil ways of the elite”. In light of the content of his report, Mr Farrell was invited to a disciplinary hearing. The South Yorkshire Police Authority took the view that Mr Farrell’s expression of his views was incompatible with his employment and that his position was therefore untenable. Mr Farrell was consequently dismissed.
As an aside, I do like that 'Intelligent Analyst'. Sadly, it seems that whilst Mr Farrell may indeed have been intelligent, he lacked somewhat in common sense, discrimination and the ability to reflect on the logic of one's own conclusions - all qualities, one might think, crucial to his job.
The full decision of the Employment Tribunal is available here (NB: large scanned PDF). It makes for very interesting reading. I'd say 'entertaining' but one shouldn't really take any pleasure in reading evidence of how a clearly smart and articulate person has headed off into woo-woo land. Nonetheless I confess to a degree of schadenfreude when I read the account of what happens when a full-blown conspiracy theorist is politely but exactingly cross-examined on the implications of his own theory. It seems that counsel for the police authority was able to lead Mr Farrell into the recursion of endless epicycles, as he was forced to concede that the only way his conspiracy theories could hang together was to keep on adding new levels of conspiracy on top.
Presumably, Mr Farrell will now add the Employment Tribunal too, alongside the Trilateral Commission, the Illuminati and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency*. If he goes to the Employment Appeal Tribunal with that as his central submission, I don't see him getting very far.
*They have photographs of everyone who drives, don't you know!
EDIT Second link flakey** so I've changed it.
**Doubtless due to the influence of [insert alphabet-soup covert agency of your choice]
