Ms Misti Kilburn v Sensient Flavors LLC and 2 others — 2025

At the public preliminary hearing on 6 and 7 May 2025 at Watford, before Employment Judge Alliott sitting with Mr D Bean and Mr N Boustred, the tribunal considered whether the claimant's two pleaded beliefs were protected philosophical beliefs under s.10 Equality Act 2010. Applying the Grainger criteria, it found that the claimant genuinely held the beliefs, that they were not merely opinions based on the current state of information, that they concerned a weighty and substantial aspect of human life and behaviour, and that they had sufficient cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance. The tribunal said it was not expressing any view on the merits or validity of the beliefs, and recorded that Grainger 5 was conceded.

The tribunal also recorded that the claimant's evidence went beyond the two pleaded beliefs, but it concentrated on the beliefs set out in the agreed list of issues. It found that the beliefs met the relatively low threshold for protection and that they provided guiding principles for the claimant's behaviour. In particular, it accepted that the claimant believed white middle-aged men had an inherent advantage and that women remained disadvantaged, especially in the workplace.

Separately, the tribunal struck out the allegation at paragraph 4.3 of the list of issues, which concerned termination of the claimant's employment relationship, under rule 38(1)(a) because it had no reasonable prospect of success. Save for that strike-out, the respondent's applications for strike out and/or deposit orders were dismissed. The claimant's costs application was dismissed, no remedy was awarded at this hearing, and the main hearing was not reserved to this panel.