Not a Sharpe Turn: a note on Sharpe v Bishop of Worcester

Last week the Court of Appeal ruled unanimously that the Revd Mark Sharpe, formerly Rector of Teme Valley South, was not an “employee” of the Bishop of Worcester or a “worker” for the purposes of employment law.

The following analysis is by Russell Sandberg, with some additional material by Frank Cranmer.

Background

From January 2005 to September 2009 the Revd Mark Sharpe was Rector of Teme Valley South in the Diocese of Worcester: his position was that of a freehold incumbent rather than a team rector or priest-in-charge. Relations between him and his parishioners deteriorated to such a point that he resigned. He then presented two claims to an Employment Tribunal: that he had suffered detrimental treatment because he was a “whistleblower” who had made protected disclosures and that he had been constructively and unfairly dismissed. Continue reading