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There will be many who do believe that supporting a football team is indeed akin to a religion.
For many, football clubs and teams instil a sense of belonging, loyalty, commitment, a club is tribal with its own values and beliefs, supporters lives are devoted to the support of their club and team and generations of families will often support the same club. To many, being a football supporter is being a part in a perceived joint effort of club, player, supporter to achieve success in their league whether it’s the dreamy heights of the premier league or your local grassroots football club. As most football supporters will agree, when they are not watching a game, they are talking about it!
Lives are vested to clubs and there are many examples of kinship between club and supporter ranging from various battles to save football clubs and the very many clubs who now actively participate in their communities with projects to support youth and less advantaged members of their community.
So, it may come as a surprise to many die hard football fans that the Employment Tribunal in Glasgow recently decided that supporting a football club is not a philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010.
The issue came to be decided in the case of Edward McClung v Doosan Babcock Ltd and others. Mr McClung is a Rangers supporter and works as a contractor. He alleged that he was denied work by energy construction company Doosan Babcock because of his support for Glasgow Rangers and that a manager, Donald Ross, also a respondent to the claim, was a Celtic supporter. Anyone vaguely familiar with Scottish football will know, and putting it mildly, that there is a long standing and its fair to say, deep and hostile rivalry between the clubs.
Mr McClung argued in his claim that because of his support for Rangers, he had not been offered further work with the company and that this was discriminatory on the grounds of a religious or philosophical belief contrary to the Equality Act 2010. In determining whether being a football supporter could be a philosophical belief, the Tribunal had to consider five conditions which are that the belief: (i) is genuinely held, (ii) it must be a belief and not an opinion or viewpoint based on the present state of information available, (iii) it must be a belief as to a weighty and substantial aspect of human life and behaviour, (iv) it must attain a certain level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance and (v) it must be worthy of respect in a democratic society (not being incompatible with human dignity and not conflict with fundamental rights of others). The Tribunal took into consideration Mr McClung’s evidence that he lived his life by the values of Rangers, that the club was a “massive part of his life” stating that he “didn’t go to Church, I go to Rangers”. Mr McClung spoke of the importance of the club in his life, having been a supporter for 42 years, attending matches with his father and son, the impetus it gave him to work hard and save money to attend games and travel to games, to be charitable and positive. Mr McClung’s evidence also outlined his devotion to the club describing it as “a way of life” never missing a match, watching all pre and post-match commentary and analysis and listening to podcasts. He considered being a Rangers fan as important to him as it was for religious people to go to Church.
The Tribunal found that whilst Mr McClung’s beliefs about Rangers were genuinely held, he had not met the rest of the criteria and as such, his claim for discrimination failed. In their decision, the Tribunal found that sports fans would derive enjoyment from supporting their club but which did not represent a belief as to weighty or substantial aspect of human life when compared with issues such as national independence, ethical veganism or gender critical beliefs and nor would it have any larger consequences for humanity as a whole. The Judge viewed Mr McClung’s support for Rangers as a lifestyle choice or akin to support for a political party and that it would not constitute a philosophical belief.
Mr McClung in attempting to meet the requirement for cogency, seriousness and importance had argued that a Rangers fan included beliefs relating to unionism, allegiance to the monarchy and a “good Protestant Christian set of values”. It was argued that such matters were separate from Rangers FC and that they were not a requirement for supporters. Ultimately, Mr McClung’s views that there are 1.4 million Rangers fans in the UK with the vast majority holding similar views to Mr McClung in relation to unionism, allegiance to monarchy, that having watched a team weekly for decades and participating in club related charitable work, that he was doing as much as a protected religious group member and demonstrated the philosophy of being a Rangers fan, did not succeed.
The ET found that whilst Mr McClung was an “avid” supporter of Rangers and that whilst he cared passionately about the monarchy and unionism together with up to an estimated 95% of other Rangers fans, the ET were not persuaded that this could constitute a philosophical belief. A key basis of the decision was that the club itself did not require these beliefs from their fans. The clubs own charter encouraged “everyone and anyone” to be a supporter, they did not define supporters and there was no prerequisite to be a supporter which Mr McClung accepted.
A philosophical belief can be difficult to establish and Tribunals continue to interpret it narrowly. To reduce the risk of discrimination claims, legal costs of such cases and the possible reputational damage that goes with it, employers should continue to be mindful of ensuring that their managers and staff are trained regularly on discrimination issues including respect, dignity and equality at work. This case shows how easily a rivalry at work can spill over into more serious, costly and damaging issues for any employer to deal with.
For further information or to speak to a member of our Employment team, please call 01689 887812.