Heathfield v Times Newspaper Ltd UKEATPA/1305/12/BA
Employment Appeal Tribunal, Underhill J, 17 January 2013
The use of an expletive in a sentence containing “the Pope” was in the circumstances an expression of bad temper and not hostility to Roman Catholicism; it therefore did not amount to harassment within the meaning of the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 (ERR 2003).
Michael Reed (instructed by the Free Representation Unit) for the employee.
In 2010 the employee worked as a subeditor for the employer, a well-known national newspaper.
On 12 March, during the visit of the Pope to the United Kingdom, the paper was preparing a story about the Pope having allegedly protected a paedophile priest. There was some delay in producing the story, and one of the editors, W, shouted across the room “Can anyone tell what’s happening to the fucking Pope?”.
There was no answer so he repeated the question more loudly. The employee, a Roman Catholic, took offence. He raised a complaint which in his view the newspaper failed to deal with properly. He then brought a complaint before the employment
