EAT: It is Illegal to Favour based on Their Marriage to a Specific Person
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) recently gave an unusual verdict pertaining to a discrimination accusation made by an employee based on her being married. The EAT stated that is was illegal to categorize a person based on their marriage to a certain individual.
The provisions of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (SDA) clearly forbids a person to be discriminated based on an individual’s married state. This act was initially legislated to safeguard the interests of female employees who were often terminated when they entered matrimony. The present Equality Act 2010 forbids discernment against any individual with the safe characteristic of an individual being wedded and in civil union.
In this case, a worker had resigned from work after she brought to light several complaints against her firm on accounts of oppression and discerning her based on her gender. The worker indicated that the treatment meted out to her was less positive, as it was based on her being an ‘aide’ to her spouse who was also working in the same firm but in disagreement with them. The claim made by her, pointed out to the fact that her accusation meant that the discriminating attitude towards her was not because of she being married, but for the reason that she had wed one of her co-workers who was in quarrel with the bosses of the firm.
The EAT before passing the judgement in this case, had to deliberate on if a person is safeguarded as per the SDA from discrimination made only because the person is married or if SDA could also cover the discrimination ensuing due to whom the person has wed.
After deliberating on the proofs, the tribunal found that the applicant was illegally terminated from work, but they discarded her claim of being terminated based on sex discrimination. They concluded that she was not terminated because of her married status and that the SDA did not cover the discrimination made based on a person being married to a certain individual.
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