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David Miller wins employment tribunal appeal brought by University of Bristol
The former academic, who has since produced a weekly show for the Iranian regime's Press TV, was unsuccessful in his cross-appeal on some points of the earlier tribunal judgement
Professor David Miller has won the latest round of his fight with the University of Bristol, after an Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the original tribunal ruling in favour of the dismissed academic.
The three person panel, presided over by Lord Fairley, KC, heard the case in London last November, concluded that attempts by the university to challenge the original ruling on multiple grounds, including protected belief, causation and unfair dismissal, were not well founded. The appeal panel, however, also rejected an attempt by Miller to counter-appeal, including a decision regarding his “contributory fault” which led to a reduction in his compensation.
Nonetheless, Miller celebrated the appeal tribunal’s decision, posting on social media that “we have set a binding legal precedent! Anti-Zionism is now a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010.”
The academic, who since his university dismissal has worked as a producer for a weekly show on Press TV, the Iranian regime state broadcaster, claimed that the ruling by the appeal court was “a public humiliation for the genocidal Zionist regime, whose assets in Britain bullied the University into sacking me and then dragged them into this futile appeal. Their legal strategy has collapsed. Their pressure campaign has spectacularly backfired.”
In 2022, Miller wrote an article for Al Mayadeen, a Lebanese publication known for its support of both Hezbollah and the Iranian regime, titled “How grooming works: The radicalisation of Jewish youth”, in which he named specific British Jewish schools. In 2023, Miller posted on social media that “Jews are not discriminated against. They are over-represented in Europe, North America and Latin America in positions of cultural, political and economic power. They are therefore, in a position to discriminate against actually marginalised groups”. In another post, he said that “If you are not Jewish, do not be cowed by racial supremacists who want to hector you into political subservience. Judeophobia barely exists these days. Educate yourself about Zionism and the tactics used by its adherents.”
On 23 March 2025, Miller wrote that “Between 63% and 80% of British Jews (depending on your source data) identify as ‘Zionist’. Even higher numbers say that they feel ‘very or somewhat attached to the country’ (73%) or ‘personally connected’ to ‘Israel’ (97%)”, along with the hashtag “DismantleZionism”. The following day he posted: “protests are not enough. Listen to our brothers and sisters in Gaza. Those who are interested in ending this genocide must begin by targeting those responsible near them: the entire Zionist movement globally must live in fear of accountability until it is dismantled an its ideology eradicated. And let’s be clear, there are Zionists everywhere. In every town and city. Find out where they are.”
The appeal judgement handed down today noted that “the original tribunal accepted the claimant’s evidence that he did not oppose or hold antipathy towards Jews or Judaism. It accepted his evidence, given in cross-examination, that he was not supportive of or ‘open to’ the use of violence as a means of opposing Zionism.”
A CST spokesperson responded to the appeal judgement by saying: “The fact that all parties agreed Miller is not antisemitic is utterly surreal, and completely detached from how his wildly inflammatory outbursts are viewed by many Jewish people.”
Jonathan Turner, chief executive of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), said: “It is important to understand that both the Tribunal and the Appeal Tribunal decided the case on the basis of David Miller’s particular description of ‘anti-Zionism’. They did not find that all forms of anti-Zionism are protected under the Equality Act.
“Miller had said that his anti-Zionist belief had ‘nothing to do with the inherent nature of the State of Israel’ and that, in his view, it was ‘possible for a non-racist State of Israel to exist … if Israel were to abandon or reverse all of its racist policies, laws and practices…’. He also said that he ‘is not and was not supportive or open to violence as a means of opposing Zionism’.
“The University tried to argue in the appeal that Miller’s description of his anti-Zionist belief did not accurately reflect his true belief, but the Appeal Tribunal said that the University had not contested this at the Tribunal hearing and could not re-open it now.
“Most importantly, the appeal decision provides further support for the view that legitimate forms of Zionism are also protected under the Equality Act. This is in line with the earlier decision in the McEleny case that a belief in Scottish Independence was protected.
“This means that discriminating against, harassing or victimising someone because of their Zionist views is liable to breach the Equality Act.”
The original disciplinary case with Miller at the University of Bristol began with reports by Jewish students as to his statements. A spokesperson for the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) said: ”
“We must not allow activists to weaponise this judgment; to use it to validate antisemitic, hateful abuse and harassment. We also cannot allow educational institutions to choose inaction because of this judgment. A narrow legal finding on expressions of a philosophical belief in the workplace is not a moral endorsement of conduct or those beliefs.
“Yes, universities must remain spaces of free speech and rigorous debate. No, academic freedom cannot serve as a shield against institutional responsibility, nor can it be invoked to silence Jewish students; to suppress them with hostility and intimidation.
“There is a clear distinction between criticism of the actions of a state and hateful rhetoric that casts Jewish students and their communities as the enemy. Jewish students experience extreme hate and racism as real-world threats to their safety, as harassment, and as exclusion – compounded by the sense that speaking up on campus leads nowhere.
“Universities must ensure they protect all students in an era where protests, social media and external actors amplify harm. Jewish students are not asking for special treatment – they are asking for education without fear, identity without penalty, and institutions to act when they are unlawfully targeted. The collective moral responsibility on campuses and beyond to protect all students against discrimination and abuse has never been greater.”
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism pointed out that the University of Bristol had refused earlier in the tribunal stage to argue whether Miller had been engaging in antisemitism with regards to the statements focused on in the actual case, meaning ” that point was incapable of being decided in this appeal case.
“Today’s judgment upholds the earlier findings that the claimant’s comments directed to Jewish students and Jewish student societies were culpable misconduct, that his unfair dismissal compensation should be halved by reason of his contribution, and dismisses his harassment claim. However, the limits of this judgment are in no small part the product of the way in which the University of Bristol has conducted this matter over the course of years. It now leaves a minefield of contradictory duties for employers and universities in Britain seeking to protect Jewish staff and students. The Government must confront this collision as it implements the new workplace harassment duties this October. Jewish employees and students must not be left to pay the price.”
The university now has the option of whether to seek to take the case to the Court of Appeal, and, if that fails, ultimately to the Supreme Court.
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