Manifesting Contentious Beliefs in the Workplace

Michael P Foran (Cambridge University)

Many legal systems protect a fundamental right to hold religious and philosophical beliefs, no matter their content. This protection is usually accompanied by a qualified entitlement to 'manifest' one's beliefs, subject to reasonable limitation, including the protection of the rights of others. In the context of the ongoing social and political debate surrounding the issue of sex and gender identity, this has raised a particular issue with regard to the expression of 'gender critical' and 'gender identity' speech in the workplace, leading to several high-profile employment tribunal cases in the United Kingdom. This paper draws upon speech act theory and legal doctrine to explore precisely when speech can be said to constitute a manifestation of a protected belief and distinguish this from conduct which is merely motivated or inspired by a protected belief. From here, the paper examines when manifestation might nevertheless be impermissible, either by virtue of the illocutionary force or perlocutionary consequences.