THE Court of Appeal has rejected claims from the Unite union
that beneficed clergy with freehold should be treated as employees
or workers.
Three Appeal Court judges overturned the judgment of the
Employment Appeal Tribunal and reinstated the original judgment of
the Birmingham Employment Tribunal in the case of the Revd Mark
Sharpe.
Mr Sharpe resigned from his post as Rector of Teme Valley South
in 2009, claiming that he was bullied by his parishioners and
hounded out of office. He lodged two separate claims against the
Bishop of Worcester and Diocesan Board of Finance with the
Birmingham Employment Tribunal claiming unfair constructive
dismissal. For this to be successful, he needs to show that he was
an employee.
Similarly, he needed to show that he had "worker" status in
order to claim that he suffered detriments through
whistle-blowing.
Thus before he could argue the details of his case, he appeared
before an employment tribunal in Birmingham to argue his
status.
The Birmingham Employment Tribunal ruled that as he was neither
an employee nor a worker. With the assistance of the Unite union,
the case was taken to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, which
overturned the first judgment, saying that the Employment Tribunal
had erred in law in reaching its decision.
But on Thursday, the Court of Appeal published its ruling that
the original employment tribunal judgment had been correct.
"This case is not just about a man and his job," Lord Justice
Lewison said. "It also raises questions about the interface between
two parallel systems of justice (ecclesiastical and secular) and
about the exercise of a property right to present an incumbent to a
benefice (an advowson)."
The judge gave a detailed summary of the history of the law
surrounding clergy appointments, going back as far as the
Investiture Contest between the Popes and the Holy Roman Emperors
in the 11th century; and continuing right up to the introduction of
Common Tenure in the Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service)
Measure 2009.
"The duties imposed on Rev Sharpe derive principally from the
Ecclesiastical Canons and Measures, and not from any private
agreement between him and the bishop," he said. "His entitlement to
stipend derives from statute and not any agreement between him and
the bishop.
"The bishop has no power to dismiss Rev Sharpe; and is not even
the initiator of disciplinary proceedings, which as I understand it
is the sole method by which Rev Sharpe could have been deprived of
his benefice against his will.
"His powers to declare a benefice vacant in cases of serious
pastoral breakdown or incapacity are entirely dependent on the
findings of an independent tribunal."
In their judgments, Lady Justice Arden and Lord Justice Davis
agreed with Lord Justice Lewison's ruling.
LJ Arden said that the judgment applied only to clergy with the
freehold benefice rather than those deployed under Common Tenure:
"There may now be only a limited number of clergy to whom the same
issues as arise on this appeal could apply in future."
Mr Sharpe's lawyers had argued that the "fragmentation" of the
Church of England should not prevent clergy from enjoying
employment rights. But LJ Arden said that "The term 'fragmentation'
is often used to cover those situations where the 'employer's'
functions are split in order to avoid responsibility under
employment protection legislation whereas in this case
fragmentation occurs because it is a natural feature of the
institutional structure of the Church of England."
LJ Davis said that "the subtext of the argument on behalf of
Reverend Sharpe is that the position of an incumbent of a benefice
should be looked at in a way which accords with modern notions and
practices.
"Such individuals work hard, often in difficult circumstances,
performing valuable functions within their parishes and receiving a
stipend. It is, in effect, said that they ought now to be regarded
as employees and ought to have the rights that others have under
the employment legislation.
"I have quite a lot of sympathy for this approach. But I
do not think that it can prevail in this case."
The diocese has welcomed the judgment, describing it as
upholding "the freedom of clergy to be office holders rather than
employees".
"There has been considerable consultation with the clergy on
this issue as well as discussions at General Synod, and clergy have
consistently said that they don't wish to change their status as
office holders," the Bishop of Worcester, Dr John Inge, said.
"To become employees, clergy would lose the freedoms which are
at the heart of the Church's ministry, and this is not something
that they want to give up.
"It is regrettable that Unite fails to understand the context in
which parish clergy exercise their ministry, whilst the Church
seeks to uphold the freedoms enjoyed by its clergy."
Unite said that they were "deeply disappointed by this judgment,
which looks back over 800 years to the Magna Carta and historical
texts from when the Holy Roman Empire was formed to overturn the
decision of an employment appeal tribunal in the present day.
"This judgement has serious ramifications for faith workers in
accepting that aspects of the law of the land don't cover the
Church. We will be considering the judgment fully, and deciding on
our next steps over the coming days."