Ms Ladele was a Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, and Mr McFarlane a Relate counselor. They complained about their dismissal, confirmed by the British courts, for refusing to carry out certain of their duties which they considered would condone homosexuality.

The Court has held, it could not be said that national courts had failed to strike a fair balance when they upheld the employers’ decisions to bring disciplinary proceedings. In each case the employer was pursuing a policy of nondiscrimination against service-users, and the right not to be discriminated against on grounds of sexual orientation was also protected under the Convention.

Eweida v UK: Documents