Discrimination – philosophical belief: Last year, in a well publicised case, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) determined (as a preliminary issue) that a claimant's view that biological sex is real, important, immutable and separate to gender identity was a protected belief under the Equality Act 2010. The EAT then sent the case back to the employment tribunal for it to determine if the Claimant had been discriminated against. Having now heard the substantive claim, the employment tribunal has concluded that the claimant was directly discriminated against, and victimised, because of her beliefs. Her employer argued it was the way she expressed her beliefs, rather than the beliefs themselves, which led to the non-renewal of her contract, but the tribunal was satisfied that she was not objectively offensive or unreasonable. While not all elements of her claim were successful, it is a reminder for employers to act carefully where employees have and choose to share strong beliefs which may be considered controversial. ( Forstater v. CGD Europe and others)
Employment tribunals – bias: In another case involving beliefs around sex and gender, the EAT has ordered the recusal of a lay member due to personal social media posts demonstrating strong views on transgender issues. The lay member was part of a tribunal panel considering a case involving such issues and had not (as they ought to have) brought the possibility of bias to the attention of the parties in...
Russian propaganda has intensified its disinformation campaign surrounding the tragedy in Bucha, targeting a Western audience. In this way, the enemy is attempting to divert the international comm...