Welcome to our latest Coffee Break in which we look at the latest legal and practical developments impacting employers.
Employment Appeal Tribunal rules on employee's refusal to use preferred pronouns
Following last year's Employment Appeal Tribunal decision in Forstater, the EAT has again looked at the difficult issue of what constitutes a "belief" for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 and has again drawn a distinction between protected beliefs and how they manifest in the workplace.
Here, the claimant was a health and disabilities assessor carrying out assessments on individuals claiming disability-related benefits. Assessments for vulnerable individuals, for example those with mental health issues who found the online process more difficult, tended to take place face to face. During the induction process the claimant explained that his beliefs (or lack of beliefs) were such that he would not agree to use the preferred pronouns of transgender service users, in conflict with workplace policies. His stated beliefs included "a belief in the truth of the Bible, and in particular, the truth of Genesis 1:27, such that 'it follows that every person is created by God as either male or female. A person cannot change their sex/gender at will. Any attempt at, or pretence of, doing so is, pointless, self-destructive and sinful'"; and a lack of belief in "transgenderism" and "gender fluidity" such that he did not believe that a person could change sex/gender.
Attempts were made...
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