''English v Sanderson Blinds Ltd''

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EWCA Civ 1421 is a

UK labour law United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK can rely upon a minimum charter of employment rights, which are found in Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equit ...

case on the question of whether a person can claim discrimination for sexuality without being (or without revealing that one is) actually gay. The Court of Appeal decided that it was irrelevant whether someone was gay or not or the bullies believe the person is gay or not, if the harassment has sexuality as its focus.

Facts

Stephen English, who lived in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, was a heterosexual married man with three children who worked for Thomas Sanderson Ltd between 1996 and August 2005, when he left voluntarily. He went to an

Employment Tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, red ...

, claiming harassment in the workplace under section 5 of the

Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 were secondary legislation in the United Kingdom, which prohibited employers unreasonably discriminating against employees on grounds of sexual orientation, perceived sexual orientat ...

, alleging that he had been the subject of homophobic mockery, but the tribunal rejected his claim because he admitted that none of his work colleagues had actually thought he was gay. He was represented by Frederic Reynold QC.English v Sanderson Blinds Ltd (2008) EWCA Civ 1421
at bailii.org, accessed 17 November 2016

Judgment

Employment Appeal Tribunal

At the Employment Appeal Tribunal, Peter-Clark J held he was not persuaded any material difference existed between the "on grounds" provisions in the Sex Discrimination Act and the

. He held the Regulations do not properly implement the Directive (at 21), as was held by Burton J in '' EOC v. SS for Trade and Industry'' 007IRLR 327. So people should be allowed to claim even when they are not themselves gay. However, he then said that the claimant’s difficulty was that nobody thought he was gay (at 23), so that the harassment was not on grounds of sexual orientation at all. It was a ‘vehicle for teasing the Claimant’ (at 24). He then said ‘without deciding the point, that the result may have been different on direct application of the Directive’.

Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal by a majority applied the Directive directly, overturning the EAT's decision. Laws LJ gave the first judgment, and dissented, saying there was no harassment under regulation 5. Sedley LJ found that there was harassment, Lawrence Collins LJ agreed with Sedley LJ, and said there was harassment.

Notes

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External links

Sanderson Blinds' website
*Afua Hirsch
'Landmark rulings strengthen gay rights in workplace'
(20.12.2008) ''

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