Christian goes to court to stop work on Sundays

A Christian woman has asked the Court of Appeal for a landmark ruling that she has the legal right not to be forced by an employer to work on Sundays.

Children’s care worker Celestina Mba, from London, says she should be free to obey the Fourth Commandment in the Bible and rest and pray on the Sabbath.

Mba, 58, a Baptist Christian and mother of three, said as she came to court: “I have never worked Sunday in my life. Never. What I am hoping to achieve is to have my individual rights to worship recognised — remove my belief and there is no ‘me’.”

Mba wants three appeal judges to overturn an Employment Appeal Tribunal decision dismissing her claim for constructive dismissal against the London Borough of Merton.

She says she was working with autistic children at a respite centre run by the borough on the understanding that she would not have to work on Sundays, but after a time her employers reneged on the agreement.

She said she told her bosses before accepting the job that keeping Sunday as a day of rest and prayer was an issue of faith.

For two years, her beliefs were accommodated, but then she was told she would have to work full weekend shifts and was left with no option but to resign.

Her claim for constructive dismissal failed before the appeals tribunal partly on the grounds that observing the Sabbath was not a “core component” of the Christian faith.

The tribunal took into account a statement submitted to support her case by a senior clergyman, which stated only “some” Christians observe the Sabbath.

Michael Nazir-Ali, former bishop of Rochester, wrote: “Some Christians will not work on the Sabbath (except for mercies), others may work only in an emergency; some Christians will want to wear a cross to manifest their faith, others will manifest their faith in some other way.”

Mba’s counsel, Paul Diamond, argued the appeals tribunal had misconstrued her belief and wrongly interpreted the fact that “some” Christians will not work on the Sabbath in a way that interfered with her individual right under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights to “manifest her religious belief”.

If she wins her appeal, it could establish new religious rights allowing Christian workers generally to avoid Sunday working.

The judges reserved their decision and said they would hand down their judgment in writing at a later date.