The House considered the scope of the ‘genuine material factor’ defence in section 1(3) of the Act where prima facie indirect discrimination exists and objective justification needs to be established.
Held: The House adopted the approach of the European Court in Bilka. Lord Keith confirmed that there was no difference between European and domestic law on this matter. Any justification of unequal payments between sexes must be ‘genuinely due to a material factor’ defence pursuant to section 1(3). The reference to ‘necessary’ means ‘reasonably necessary’.
Judges:
Lord Keith of Kinkel, Lord Brandon of Oakbrook, Lord Griffiths, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, Lord Goff of Chieveley
Citations:
[1987] 1 AC 224, 1987 SLT 146, [1987] 2 CMLR 11, [1986] 3 WLR 1017, [1987] ICR 129, [1987] IRLR 26, [1987] 1 All ER 65, 1987 SC (HL) 1, [1987] UKHL 16, [1986] UKHL 8
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
Scotland
Cited by:
Cited – Blackburn and Another v West Midlands Police CA 6-Nov-2008
The claimants, female police officers, complained that male officers had received priority payments where they had received none. The defendant said that the payments were justified in achieving a proper aim, namely the encouragement of night . .
Cited – O’Hanlon v Revenue and Customs CA 30-Mar-2007
The claimant suffered depression, and complained that the respondent’s reduction in her pay after long periods of sickness was discriminatory. She appealed decisions that it was not. She said that a reasonable adjustment would have been to continue . .
Cited – Rolls Royce Plc v Unite the Union QBD 17-Oct-2008
The company had entered into collective agreements with the union governing criteria and procedures for redundancy selection. The company said that the criteria were not compliant with the age discrimination regulations.
Held: The union was . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Discrimination
Updated: 13 September 2022; Ref: scu.277624