Discrimination; gender reassignment; rejection of a trans woman was unlawful. [Summary not yet checked against the judgment.]
Discrimination; gender reassignment; toilet facilities during transition. The Court of Appeal (Pill, Jonathan Parker and Keene LJJ) held that an employer did not unlawfully discriminate under s.2A of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 by requiring an employee at the start of her real life test to use a unisex disabled toilet rather than the female facilities. Presenting as a woman does not of itself confer a right to use women's toilets; the tribunal must judge when the employee has become entitled to be treated as a woman, giving weight to her self-definition without being bound by it [47]-[49]. The comparators are non-transsexual employees of either sex, and a temporary requirement to use separate facilities was not less favourable treatment [74]-[76]. The employer must respect the employee's dignity and both sides must act reasonably to overcome the difficulties [52]. Decided before the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Equality Act 2010. [Summary not yet checked against the judgment.]
Discrimination; gender reassignment; direct discrimination; genuine occupational qualification. The House of Lords held that refusing to appoint a post-operative trans woman as a police constable was unlawful direct sex discrimination. Read in the light of P v S and Cornwall County Council and Goodwin v United Kingdom, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 required a person who had undergone gender reassignment to be treated as being of the acquired gender, so the genuine occupational qualification relied on, the need for officers to search suspects of their own sex, could not justify the refusal. [Summary not yet checked against the judgment.]
Sex; meaning of 'woman' in the Equality Act 2010; gender recognition certificates. The Inner House dismissed For Women Scotland's appeal from the Outer House and upheld the Scottish Ministers' statutory guidance, under which a person with a gender recognition certificate recognising their gender as female is a woman for the purposes of the 2010 Act and of the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018. Reversed by the Supreme Court, [2025] UKSC 16, which held that 'sex' and 'woman' in the 2010 Act refer to biological sex. [Summary not yet checked against the judgment.]
Reversed by For Women Scotland Ltd v Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16 (2025-04-16)
Case No. 4104864/2024 - Harassment; allowing a trans woman access to female changing rooms without managing the conflict with female staff rights was harassment. [Summary not yet checked against the judgment.]
Discrimination; toilets; inclusive policy based on gender identity was objectively justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, though harassment claims can still succeed on specific facts. The judgment attempts to maintain terminology consistent with the Supreme Court's 'For Women Scotland' decision. [Summary not yet checked against the judgment.]
Equality Act; definition of 'sex'; confirmed that 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex.