An Orthodox Jewish nursery did not religiously discriminate against a teacher it sacked because she was cohabiting with a partner, a judge has ruled.

The Accord Coalition - which campaigns for reform of faith schools - said the successful appeal by the Gan Menachem Hendon private nursery in London against a religious-discrimination ruling from 2017 was “confusing and unsettling”.

The appeal related to the case of Zelda De Groen, who was employed by Gan Menachem Hendon from 2012 until 2016.

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Ms De Groen was dismissed from her post after her cohabitation with her partner came to light during a barbecue organised by a synagogue affiliated with the nursery.

One of the nursery directors heard Ms De Groen’s boyfriend mention that they lived together.

She was later called into a meeting at the nursery, where she was asked to lie to parents that she was no longer cohabiting. She refused and was later dismissed.

In 2017, an employment tribal ruled that she had been discriminated against on the basis of her sex and religion - prompting an appeal by the nursery.

While the appeal tribunal upheld that Ms De Groen had been discriminated against because of her sex, it found that she had not been religiously discriminated against.

The judge, Mr Justice Swift, said the initial tribunal’s findings of religious discrimination had been incorrect, citing the recent Supreme Court case that ruled a baker was not discriminating against an individual’s personal characteristics when it refused to ice a pro-gay marriage slogan on a cake.

He ruled that while an employer was not allowed to act to the detriment of an employee based on that individual’s religious belief, it was permitted to do so based on its own belief so long as it acted consistently. 

“It rings entirely true that the nursery acted because of its own beliefs, and Ms De Groen’s non-compliance with those beliefs. A conclusion that the nursery acted because of Ms De Groen’s belief (or rather, what she did not believe) is an entirely implausible conclusion,” the ruling states.

The reverend Stephen Terry, chair of the Accord Coalition, expressed concern with the decision.

“This is a confusing and unsettling ruling that highlights how thousands of faith-school teachers across the country may be uniquely vulnerable to religious discrimination,” he said. 

“Rather than allow fresh uncertainty to fester, the government should remove exemptions from equality law that some faith schools believe grants them a broad ability to religiously discriminate in the recruitment and employment of teachers.

“Teachers do not need to be discriminated against to uphold a faith school’s ethos, and discrimination should not be a part of school life.”