Judgment has been handed down by the Court of Appeal, following an attempt to re-open an application for leave to appeal on the case of Omooba v (1) Michael Garrett Associates Limited (T/A Global Artists) and (2) Leicester Theatre Trust Limited (2026) EWCA Civ 253.
In this long-running religious discrimination case, Howes Percival successfully defended the second respondent Leicester Theatre Trust Limited (Curve Theatre). The Theatre had dismissed the claimant, Ms Omooba from the leading role of Celie in the musical production of The Color Purple in 2019. This followed the re-tweeting of a historical Facebook post in which she had expressed her religious beliefs regarding homosexuality, which she believed to be sinful and contrary to biblical teaching.
After losing her appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, Ms Omooba sought to appeal to the Court of Appeal. This was dismissed in 2024. However following the Court of Appeal decision in Higgs v Farmor’s School (2025) EWCA Civ 109, (2005) ICR 1172, Ms Omooba once again made application to the Court of Appeal to re-open her application for leave to appeal.
The Court of Appeal roundly rejected Ms Omooba’s application and this was dismissed. In its Judgment, the Court of Appeal distinguished the case of Omooba (which was about the “reason why” Ms Omooba was dismissed) with Higgs which was a case where the employer had been found to have dismissed the claimant because of the manifestation of her belief, which then required an examination of the proportionality of the school’s reaction. The case of Omooba was different because the Employment Tribunal had concluded that Ms Omooba’s religious beliefs were not the reason for her dismissal, but rather the dysfunctional situation that arose from the context and circumstances of the public retweeting. The Court of Appeal concluded that this was a question of fact, and therefore in the absence of an error of law, could not be appealed.
The Court of Appeal in its Judgment gave much needed guidance on the case law in this area, which will be helpful to employers navigating this complex area of law.
Alex Payton, Partner of Howes Percival, together with Lucy Mooney (Paralegal) acted for the Theatre and instructed Tom Coghlin KC of Cloisters to appear before the Court of Appeal.
A copy of the full Court of Appeal Judgment can be found here: Seyi Omooba -v- Michael Garrett Associates Limited and another - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
