Maria Wright and her family had been members of the congregation at St John the Evangelist Church in Ilford for more than four decades, before she began cleaning the church hall seven days a week in 2004.
However trouble began when Rev Calvert Prentis joined the parish in 2015 and decided it was not “appropriate” for his church to employ a cleaner.
Mrs Wright appealed to the Bishop of Barking, Peter Hill, who oversees the parish, but he dismissed her complaint, according to the Evening Standard.
She told the tribunal that she was later told to give up her position after being accused by Rev Prentis of claiming money for hours she had not worked.
However, Judge Moor ruled that the vicar had been “too hasty” in accusing Mrs Wright of fraud and added her job termination was unfair “on a human level”.
“Fraud is a very serious allegation and should only be made, in my view, after careful consideration, which did not happen here. I have accepted her evidence that she worked on all days,” the judge said.
Despite the judge ruling in her favour, the tribunal decided Mrs Wright cannot be awarded compensation because she was not formally a church employee.
Mrs Wright has vowed to return to the congregation and Rev Prentis has since been appointed to a new role in Birmingham, due to begin before Easter.
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