In a landmark ruling that could pave the way for dozens of future discrimination cases against church authorities across Britain, five Law Lords ruled that Helen Percy, 39, was entitled to bring her claim before an employment tribunal despite the spiritual nature of her job and the Kirk’s insistence that it was answerable only to Christ.

Ms Percy, a single woman, was suspended in 1997 from her post as associate minister for six glen parishes in the Presbytery of Angus after being accused of having an affair with a married church elder. She subsequently resigned, claiming that the Kirk had put pressure on her to relinquish her post. She claims that the institution had failed to act against male ministers over extra-marital affairs and had singled her out for punishment because she was female.

By a 4-1 majority, the Lords yesterday rejected submissions that Ms Percy’s sexual discrimination claim was to be treated as a spiritual matter to be dealt with by the church authorities and not the civil courts.

Lord Nicholls, sitting with Lords Hoffman, Scott and Hope and Baroness Hale, said that documents passed between the church authorities and Ms Percy, including the terms and conditions of her job, showed that she had entered into a legally binding contract to provide services to the Church. The fact that the nature of her role was spiritual made no difference, he said.

“The rights and obligations created by such a contract are, of their nature, not spiritual matters,” Lord Hoffman said.

Ms Percy’s battle to have her case heard will now return to an employment tribunal, although the Kirk may propose a settlement in order to avoid damaging details about ministers’ sex lives being made public. She is seeking compensation for lost income, pension and housing benefits, and damages for injuries to her feelings and stress-related illness. She has always claimed that only one act of sexual intercourse took place between her and the married church elder with whom she was accused of having an affair.

Ms Percy’s decision to take the case to the House of Lords came after an appeal tribunal and the Court of Session in Edinburgh both ruled that the Kirk had the exclusive right to deal with its ministers and said that she was not an “employee”.

Her lawyers had argued in the Lords that her agreement with the Church to work as a minister amounted to a contract of employment, entitling her to a range of rights under civil law. However, lawyers for the Church of Scotland claimed that, under the 1921 Church of Scotland Act, the Kirk’s authority to rule on all matters of doctrine, worship, government and discipline came from God alone.

Ms Percy’s solicitor, James Baxter, of the Perthshire-based firm Elliot & Co, hailed yesterday’s ruling as a “landmark judgment” and predicted that it would be “heavily relied upon in a number of claims that might be coming”.

He said: “As a principle it was wrong that she should not be allowed to present her case through the civil courts and for the Church to be able to say it was all up to them. I thought we would be successful at the end of the day but I thought we might have to go to Europe.”

A spokesman for the Church of Scotland said: “This judgment does not deal with the facts of Ms Percy’s claim. It is about jurisdiction; that is, whether Ms Percy is entitled to have her case heard within the civil courts as opposed to solely within the courts of the church.

“Based on a legal interpretation of Ms Percy’s particular contract, the House of Lords has ruled that Ms Percy’s sex discrimination claim can be tested in a civil court. This judgment would not apply to other categories of ministers of religion.” Lord Hoffman, the only Law Lord to express a dissenting view, said that Ms Percy had no contract of service with the Church and was therefore not a “worker” under the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act.

In a previous case in England, an Anglican rector failed in his bid to bring an employment law complaint because he was told that he was effectively employed by God, not the Church. However, General Synod has since voted on the issue, and Anglican clergy are expected to be granted employment rights within the next few years.

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