After being wrongfully fired four years ago for Facebook posts criticizing transgenderism and sex education in her son’s Church of England primary school, a Christian teaching assistant called Kristie Higgs won a groundbreaking appeal on Friday.
Her lengthy fight to defend Christians’ right to free expression paid off when a court overruled an earlier verdict supporting her firing.
Kristie Higgs claimed she was initially terminated as a teaching assistant at the Farmor’s Schoo in Gloucestershire, England, because someone had reported her to the head teacher for Facebook posts she wrote opposing the introduction of books containing transgender ideology at her son’s school.
Higgs felt her dismissal was retaliation for her Christian beliefs. Of course, the school said differently.
Higgs had also organized opposition to the proposed curriculum by collecting signatures from her Facebook friends and relatives.
Books with LGBTQ themes, such as “My Princess Boy” and “Red: A Crayon’s Story,” were featured as part of the event.
Higgs was suspended when a parent informed her employer about her online activity.
She was fired for excessive misbehavior after a six-hour disciplinary hearing. Apparently, her superiors advised her that her Christian convictions, as revealed on the Facebook pages, were similar to those of a “pro-Nazi right-wing extremist.”
Higgs’ appeal was granted on Friday by Jennifer Eady, president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London. Eady said that the freedom to express one’s opinions is unrestricted, regardless of who it might offend. She had already removed two members of the appeals panel for prejudice. These two people were activists for equality for the LGBTQ community.
Higgs was not the victim of discrimination or harassment when she was let go from the school, according to a ruling from an employment tribunal in October 2020. Following that decision, she filed an appeal.
According to the BBC, a new tribunal will hear Higgs’ case.
