Former Fleetwood UKIP councillor 'bullied over Brexit views' has landmark case dismissed at Tribunal

Colette Fairbanks, 56, who represented Fleetwood’s Pharos ward on Wyre, was sacked as a recovery worker for the drug and alcohol rehabilitation charity Change Grow Live in July 2023 after sharing “offensive” posts about immigrants on social media, a tribunal in Manchester was told.

The tribunal heard that when she was interviewed for the job, Mrs Fairbanks - whose 1989 appearance on Panorama has recently resurfaced on TikTok - informed the charity that she had been a local councillor, although she did not identify the political party with which she was affiliated.

Tribunal documents state: “The claimant was a member of the UK Independence Party, and a local councillor for that party between about 2017 and 2019, a period which pre-dated her employment with the respondent. The claimant believes that difficulties arose with her employer from about February 2023 when a colleague notified her manager that the claimant had been a UKIP councillor. The claimant says that she was bullied and harassed by the respondent in relation to her membership of UKIP. She was ultimately dismissed by the respondent in relation to social media posts made on Twitter accounts (now known as ‘X’). The claimant says that one of these accounts did not belong to her.”

Despite being advised it was unlikely to succeed in an earlier, preliminary hearing, Mrs Fairbanks argued that her political views were philosophical beliefs protected by the Equality Act. The case proceeded to be determined based upon the four matters outlined by Mrs Fairbanks:

- The UK should be outside of the EU;

- Illegal migration should cease;

- The Halal slaughter of animals should cease; and

- The UK should leave the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights).

Mrs Fairbanks said she had been an “activist” since the end of 2017 with, “my activism based around my political beliefs”. In 2008 she started a group called Yellow Vests Lancashire which would meet every Saturday to inform the public of “injustices within our society”. In relation to Halal food, she said that she made a point when shopping at supermarkets of checking packaging for “slaughter house codes” so that she could ensure she was not buying meat which had been slaughtered using Halal methods.

What did the Judge say?

Judge Humble said: “There has to be a distinction between a philosophical belief and a strongly held opinion....if, for example “wanting to leave the EU” was held to be a philosophical belief then more than half the British electorate would have a belief that fell within section 10 EQA, which could not be the intention of the legislation.

“Despite some probing, both by the tribunal and in cross examination, no coherent belief or set of beliefs was forthcoming. On balance, the tribunal found that the claimant had genuinely held opinions and views but she did not convince the tribunal that she had any underlying philosophical belief.”

Mrs Fairbanks was told that it was “a case which would have best been presented as an unfair dismissal claim....However, the claimant did not plead unfair dismissal; did not tick the applicable box on the claim form; and did not raise the issue at either of the hearings or, as far as could be discerned from the papers, at any other time in the proceedings. As with the identification of a philosophical belief, it is not for the tribunal to make the claimant’s case for her or to advise her upon how best to pursue it.”