The defendant implemented a voluntary retirement scheme under which benefits were calculated according to the period of service of the employee. The plaintiff claimed that the scheme discriminated against workers who had taken career breaks, and therefore against women.
Held: A severance pay scheme, which calculated the amount payable according to length of service and terminal salary, was not sexually discriminatory, or indirectly so, even though more women than men worked part-time at the end of their employment and so received lesser amounts. A scheme which was fair to employees as a whole might still be unfair to individuals.
Lord Nicholls described the operation of the principle of proportionality: ‘In other words, the ground relied upon as justification must be of sufficient importance for a national court to regard this as overriding the disparate impact of the difference in treatment, either in whole or in part. The more serious the disparate impact on women, or men as the case may be, the more cogent must be the objective justification. There seems to be no particular criteria to which the national court should have regard when assessing the weight of the justification relied upon.’
Judges:
Lord Slynn of Hadley Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead Lord Steyn Lord Hoffmann Lord Clyde
Citations:
Times 23-Jul-1999, Gazette 11-Aug-1999, [1999] UKHL 38, [1999] ICR 859, [1999] 1 WLR 1465, [1999] 3 All ER 974
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Barry v Midland Bank Plc CA 18-Dec-1997
No sex discrimination was involved in company’s retirement benefits scheme even though it was affected by differences for part time workers, and even though more women worked part time . .
Cited – Stadt Lengerich and others v Helmig and others (Judgment) ECJ 15-Dec-1994
ECJ The Court of Justice is in principle bound to give a preliminary ruling if the questions raised by the national court or tribunal, which is best placed to appreciate, in the light of the circumstances of the . .
Cited – Maria Kowalska v Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg ECJ 27-Jun-1990
Europa Compensation paid to a worker on termination of the employment relationship is a form of deferred pay to which the worker is entitled by reason of his employment but which is paid to him on termination of . .
Cited – Barber v Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance Group ECJ 17-May-1990
Europa The benefits paid by an employer to a worker on the latter’s redundancy constitute a form of pay to which the worker is entitled in respect of his employment, which is paid to him upon termination of the . .
Cited – Bilka-Kaufhaus v Webers Von Hartz ECJ 13-May-1986
ECJ An occupational pension scheme which, although established in accordance with statutory provisions, is based on an agreement between the employer and employee representatives constitutes an integral part of . .
Cited – Kuratorium fur Dialyse und Nierentransplantation v Lewark ECJ 6-Feb-1996
Europa The concept of pay within the meaning of Article 119 of the Treaty comprises any consideration, whether in cash or in kind, whether immediate or future, provided that the worker receives it, albeit . .
Cited – Francovich, Bonifaci and others v Italy ECJ 19-Nov-1991
LMA The claimants, a group of ex-employees sought arrears of wages on their employers’ insolvency. The European Directive required Member States to provide a guarantee fund to ensure payment of employees’ arrears . .
Cited by:
Appealed to – Barry v Midland Bank Plc CA 18-Dec-1997
No sex discrimination was involved in company’s retirement benefits scheme even though it was affected by differences for part time workers, and even though more women worked part time . .
Cited – Nelson v Carillion Services Ltd CA 15-Apr-2003
The appellant challenged dismissal of her claim for equal pay. It had been rejected on the ground that the employer had shown a material factor justifying the difference in pay.
Held: Enderby establishes that the burden of proving sex . .
Cited – Home Office v Bailey and others CA 22-Mar-2005
Prison officers claimed awards for sex discrimination. The employer replied that the pools of comparators each contained members of either sex. The appellants sought to establish that any less favourable treatment of them in comparison with the . .
Cited – Secretary of State for Trade and Industry v Rutherford and others HL 3-May-2006
The claimant sought to establish that as a male employee, he had suffered sex discrimination in that he lost rights to redundancy pay after the age of retirement where a woman might not.
Held: The appeal was dismised. There were very few . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Discrimination, Employment
Updated: 16 August 2022; Ref: scu.78267