The band of reasonable responses to gross misconduct 4 May 2021 By Andrew Crudge
Just because one employer decides a final warning is sufficient does not mean another cannot fairly dismiss an individual for the same reason, says Andrew Crudge
Consider this scenario: an employee is facing disciplinary action for something that may potentially be serious enough to amount to gross misconduct. The employer must decide whether a dismissal is justified, or whether a warning would be more appropriate.
In many cases, this is easier said than done. One reasonable employer may take the view that the actions amount to gross misconduct, resulting in dismissal. Whereas another may decide that the employee is guilty of mere misconduct (which does not justify a dismissal). Simply put, there is a band of reasonable responses for every situation. We are all different. Therefore, it is unrealistic to expect one set of circumsta
The UK s equality watchdog said Maya Forstater s gender critical views are protected by equalities law. (Barney Cokeliss/@BCokeliss)
The UK’s equality watchdog thinks that people with anti-trans “gender critical” views should be protected by equalities law.
“We think that a ‘gender critical’ belief that ‘trans women are men and trans men are women’ is a philosophical belief which is protected under the Equality Act,” a spokesperson from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) told
PinkNews.
The watchdog’s statement comes as a landmark appeal about trans rights, brought by tax researcher Maya Forstater, concluded in London.
Forstater took her former employer, think-tank Center for Global Development (CGD), to an employment tribunal in 2019 claiming she’d been discriminated on the basis of her “gender critical” views after her contract was not renewed when colleagues became upset about her anti-trans views.
Gender critical beliefs protected by law, says equalities watchdog
Equality and Human Rights Commission statement comes as landmark case over trans rights concluded this week
29 April 2021 • 5:04pm
Maya Forstater reiterated her views that biological sex is real, important, immutable, and not to be conflated with gender identity
Credit: Barney Cokeliss/PA
The belief that trans women are men is protected by law, the equalities watchdog has confirmed.
The statement from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) came as a landmark case over trans rights concluded this week.
In March 2019, Maya Forstater lost her job after being accused of offensive tweets questioning government proposals to allow people to self-identify as being of the opposite sex.
The equality watchdog has said gender critical views should be considered a philosophical belief and protected under law, in the wake of a landmark employment appeal tribunal.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) spoke out after an employment tribunal appeal by Maya Forstater, who was sacked after claiming people cannot change their biological sex.
The EHRC argued, A gender critical belief that trans women are men and trans men are women is a philosophical belief which is protected under the Equality Act.
Ms Forstater took her case to an employment tribunal on the grounds that her dismissal constituted discrimination against her beliefs, but her claim was thrown out by a judge.
bbc.co.uk
Defending the reality of biological sex is based on “fundamental scientific facts”, a senior lawyer told an Employment Appeal Tribunal this week.
Former tax consultant Maya Forstater lost her job in 2019 because of her views and an Employment Tribunal ruled that her dismissal was not discriminatory, because ‘gender critical’ beliefs are not protected by equality law.
But in her appeal, which concluded yesterday, Ben Cooper QC said that ignoring biological fact “is detrimental to an honest, just and fair society, particularly upholding the rights of women”.
‘Orwellian’
Mr Cooper stated that biological sex is “real, important, immutable, and not to be conflated with gender identity”, and changing one’s appearance “does not change a person’s sex”.