Employees Publicly Expressing Their Personal Views - What Can Employers Do?
What actions can employers take in response to an employee expressing views that could negatively impact on stakeholders?
Page v NHS Trust Development Authority
Mr Page was a Non-Executive Director (NED) at the Trust.
He was removed from office after giving a series of interviews to the media in which he expressed his opposition to adoption by same-sex couples.
He had previously been reprimanded for being influenced by his religious beliefs when he made, as a lay magistrate, a decision in relation to an adoption case involving a same-sex couple. Mr Page went on to give interviews to local and national media in which he queried the reprimand and restated his initial views.
The Trust advised Mr Page that expressing his views in this way could negatively impact on its stakeholders. He accepted that it had been an error on his part not to inform the Trust in advance that he would be publicising his views in this way and he agreed that in future he would conform with the Trust's policy, which included a requirement to promote equality for LGBT people.
Despite this, Mr Page continued to engage with the media in relation to his views, which ultimately led to his removal from his NED role.
He unsuccessfully claimed that he had been subject to religious discrimination, harassment related to religion, and victimisation. The tribunal, drawing a distinction between a person's beliefs and the manner of their expression, held that it was not his personal views, but his repeated engagement with the media which led to his removal from office.
Best Practice
This case provides a useful reminder of the action employers can take where an employee expresses views that go against the organisation's ethos and could cause damage to the public perception of an entity. This case concerns an extreme example of a well-known employee engaging with high profile national media. However, its principles could equally apply to employees expressing views on social media, for example.
Employers should ensure that their expectations around the expression of personal views are clear in internal policies and procedures, and that these are brought to employees' attention, for example through regular training.