Series 12 Episode 4

🎙️ Another episode of Having a NatteRR is here!

This time, Dave and Simon are looking at Daudet v Computacenter (UK) Limited – a case which asks a rather unusual question about what can amount to a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act.

⚖️ The case

The claimant strongly believed that he had precognitive, premonitory and prophetic dreams – essentially, that he had a psychic ability to foresee future events in his dreams and premonitions, the majority (or, according to his evidence, all) of which came true.

The Tribunal had to consider whether this belief was capable of protection as a philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010.

It concluded that it wasn't. The belief was too narrowly focused on the claimant's belief in his own particular psychic abilities, rather than concerning a weighty and substantial aspect of human life and behaviour. It also lacked the level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance required to qualify for protection.

Dave talks us through the facts, before Simon tackles the judgment and the Tribunal's application of the Grainger criteria.

Equally weighty and substantial matters are discussed in the 'banter section'…

• Simon tells us about his holiday to France, which appears to have mainly involved eating, judging by the amount of time he spends listing everything he consumed.
• And for reasons that will become apparent, there is also a surprisingly lengthy discussion about liquorice.