Lloyds Wins Discrimination Suits Over Pro-Palestine Posts Despite ‘Heavy Handed’ Disciplinary Action

Lloyds Bank Plc won religious discrimination lawsuits against two employees it punished for posting pro-Palestine messages on the bank’s internal chat, in a disciplinary process that London employment judges called “heavy handed.”

The employment tribunal dismissed the lawsuits from Afra Sohail and Aunngbeen Khalid saying the bank was right to remove the posts. The two women sued the bank in 2022 alleging discrimination on the basis of political and religious beliefs after the bank sanctioned and reported them to the Financial Conduct Authority for gross misconduct.

It was justified for Lloyds to remove the posts “because of the polarizing effect of the subject matter and the workplace context” but the disciplinary action went “too far,” according to the decision published last week.

The judges found that two women did not hold “protected anti-Zionist beliefs” in 2021, when they made the posts and the bank’s action were not based on religious discrimination, the judges found.

The women posted the comments in the days following an increase in violence between Israel and Palestine until a ceasefire was agreed in May 2021. The pair sought compensation and withdrawal of the bank’s disciplinary action.

The disciplinary action stays on the FCA’s record for six years and can prevent individuals from finding a new job in finance

The court case was an example of the balancing act employers have to strike internally on divisive geopolitical events, with the Israel-Palestine conflict a delicate issue for companies to navigate. Unlike in the US, British companies can’t fire employees on the basis of their political views unless they express them in a discriminatory or offensive manner.

Sohail, a customer adviser, left the bank in 2023 while Khalid, a fair assessment adviser, continued to work for Lloyds at the time of the trial in 2024. The lender denied all the allegations.

The bank doesn’t curb free speech of employees and it doesn’t have any policy to ban criticism of Israel’s government, the bank’s lawyers said during the trial. Lloyds’ spokespeople didn’t respond to emails requesting comment.

Sohail’s post were “strong and emotive” while Khalid’s “horrendously clumsy and insensitive” but they did not target any section of Lloyds employees and were not antisemitic, the judges found after the trial.

“Although we are disappointed by the outcome, we take strength from the tribunal’s clear recognition that anti-Zionist beliefs can be protected in law,” Khalid said in a statement after the ruling.