Climate change test case on the cards as sustainability manager wins dismissal appeal

In what could prove an important test case, an appeal judge ruled yesterday that a man may take his employer to an employment tribunal after he was allegedly dismissed as a result of his views on climate change.

Tim Nicholson was made redundant last year from his position of head of sustainability at property giant Grainger Plc. He accused the company of unfairly dismissing him as a result of his views on the importance of tackling climate change, and in March a judge ruled that he could take the firm to a tribunal under employment law on the grounds that his views represented a philosophical position and should not be discriminated against.

Grainger appealed the decision, arguing that Nicholson's views were political, but that appeal was rejected at a hearing yesterday.

Nicholson's solicitor, Shah Qureshi, told the BBC that the decision paved the way for a full tribunal hearing. "Essentially, the judgment says that a belief in man-made climate change and the alleged resulting moral imperative is capable of being a philosophical belief and is therefore protected by the 2003 religion or belief regulations," he said.

Dave Butler, corporate affairs director at Grainger, signalled that the company would contest the accusation that Nicholson was unfairly dismissed.

"This decision merely confirms that views on the importance of environmental protection are capable of amounting to a philosophical belief," he said. " Grainger absolutely maintains, as it has done from the very outset of these proceedings, that Mr Nicholson's redundancy was driven solely by the operational needs of the company during a period of extraordinary market turbulence, which also required other structural changes to be made within the company. Grainger rejects outright any suggestion that there was any other motivation relating to Mr Nicholson's beliefs or otherwise."

Nicholson alleged that his dismissal was motivated by his views on climate change, which he claims brought him into conflict with other senior managers.

He said that he tried to assess the carbon footprint of the company but was blocked by colleagues' refusal to provide him with the required data.

He also accused the company’s chief executive, Rupert Dickinson, of displaying "contempt" for his views on climate change and once flying a member of staff to Ireland just to hand Nicholson his BlackBerry after he had left it in London.

The case could set an important precedent and lead to increased legal and reputational risks for firms that are perceived by employees to be blocking environmental best practices.