Ms T OWEN v Willow Tower Opco 1 Ltd Preliminary Hearing — 2023

Ms Owen brought unfair dismissal and religion or belief discrimination claims. The preliminary hearing addressed whether she had a protected philosophical belief in ethical veganism and whether she had enough continuity of service to bring an unfair dismissal claim. The claimant had moved from contracted hours to bank work in November 2017 and, on her own evidence, there was no obligation on either side to offer or accept shifts between assignments.

On the Equality Act issue, the tribunal accepted that ethical veganism can in principle amount to a philosophical belief, but held that Ms Owen had not shown, on the evidence before it, that she genuinely held that belief within section 10 EqA and the Grainger guidance. The judge noted that she gave limited detail about how the belief structured her daily life, could not say when it began, and that much of her objection to vaccination appeared to relate to the experimental status of the vaccine and possible side effects rather than veganism itself. The Equality Act claims were therefore dismissed.

On unfair dismissal, the tribunal found that once Ms Owen became bank staff there was no umbrella contract or other continuing employment relationship between shifts. It held that the gaps in work from June to November 2021 broke continuity of service under sections 210, 211 and 212 ERA 1996, so she did not have the continuity required by section 108 ERA 1996. No remedy was awarded, and the remaining claims in case 2400073/2022 were dismissed.