Discrimination by Perception

The Equality Act comes into force on the 1st October 2010. In the run up to its introduction we will be looking at some of the interesting features of the Act. One new feature of the Equality Act is that ‘dual discrimination’ (section 14) will be made made unlawful.


For example, ‘Happy Days’ pre-school nursery are happy to employ gay nursery assistants, and are happy to employ male nursery assistants. However ‘Happy Days’ refuses to employ Bob, because he is both male and gay. Before, Happy Days might have defended a claim by Bob, by saying ‘look; we employ gay people, and we employ men!’. Now Bob can claim dual discrimination. He can say, ‘Yes, they employ men, and they employ gay people, but they do not employ gay men as care workers.

In another example Denise, a black woman is passed over for promotion to work on reception because her employer Zen Insurance thinks black women do not perform well in customer service roles. Before, Zen Insurance could have defended Denise’s claim saying ‘We have equally qualified white female and black male employees on reception, so we are not discriminatory’. Once the Act comes into force, Denise can argue that it’s because she is both black and female that she was passed over for promotion, and therefore is a victim of dual discrimination.


This idea of ‘dual discrimination is new under the Act. Some commentators question whether in practical terms it offers employees any significant new protection. However employers will need to be aware of this and refer to it in their Equal Opportunities policies