A Jewish lawyer who was fired after not coming to work on Pesach is set to receive around £26,500 in compensation.

According to a court judgment published last month, Orthodox lawyer Philip Bialick was dismissed by a “workplace friend and colleague” after he said he was taking his pre-booked holiday following a bout of Covid.

Mr Bialick joined NNE Law Limited as a litigation executive in January 2020 and booked time off in April the following month.

Then the UK entered into its first lockdown on March 23. 

His employer insisted he come to work the following morning arguing that “since the courts are not closed… our line of work is considered essential”. But Mr Bialick fell ill two days later, on March 26, and was forced to self-isolate at home per advice from the NHS.

His isolation period was set to end on April 8 - at which point he expected to take his holiday. But his employer insisted he return to work on April 9, which was the second day of Pesach.

Mr Bialick replied in an email he had booked time off for religious reasons.

The next day, his firm said it was “left with no alternative but to end your employment contract with NNE Law Ltd.”

Speaking at the employment tribunal in Manchester, Judge Leach said: “We accept that the dismissal had a devastating impact on him and that he was affected mentally and emotionally.

“The claimant was dismissed by Mr Nazokkar, who… in the past had been a workplace friend and colleague of the claimant.”

The judge later added: “As for taking into account that this was a one-off act, the effect of the discriminatory treatment was to dismiss the claimant without notice or pay in lieu of notice.

“Whilst it was a one-off act, it was a serious one, effectively the most serious sanction an employer could impose on an employee for refusing to attend work on Passover High Holiday.”