Landmark ruling – non-binary and gender fluid people now protected under equality legislation.

Did you know that a landmark ruling has confirmed, for the first time, that protection under the Equality Act 2010 extends to non-binary and gender fluid individuals? Have you thought about the practical implications of this ruling for your organisation?

The Equality Act, which came into force in 2010, legally protects people from discrimination on the basis of nine protected characteristics; age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, race, religion, pregnancy and maternity, and marriage and civil partnership.

However, until now, it has not been clear if non-binary and gender fluid people would be protected by this legislation. In a landmark case, an employment tribunal has recognised that ‘gender’ is a spectrum.

The case involved an employee of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), who claimed harassment and discrimination because of their gender identity. They said that they were subjected to abusive jokes and insults and experienced a lack of support from managers. JLR Tried to argue that the employee, who identified as non-binary, was not covered by the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010.

The tribunal accepted the argument from the defendant’s barrister in the case, Robin Moria White, that the government itself referred to a gender "spectrum" during parliamentary debates about the Equality Act 2010.

White called the tribunal’s decision an “important judgement, albeit at first instance, recognising for the first time the rights of a small number of individuals with complex gender identities.”

The landmark ruling confirmed, for the first time, that protection under the Equality Act 2010 extends to non-binary and gender fluid individuals.

Eloise Stonborough, head of policy at LGBT+ charity Stonewall, said the tribunal ruling was a “milestone in recognising the rights of non-binary and gender-fluid people to be protected from discrimination under the Equality Act 2010”.

What should employers do?

There are a variety of practical steps that employers can take to support employees, including those who are non-binary or gender fluid. You might want to consider, for example:

• increasing staff awareness. Discrimination cases like the above often highlight a lack of understanding of LGBTQ+ individuals – their experiences and the barriers they frequently encounter in the workplace, for example. A first ste should be to increase awareness, for example with terminology such as trans, non-binary and gender fluid

• undertaking simple steps would be to ensure documentation such as application forms, diversity monitoring forms and employee records include diverse gender options – not just ‘male’ or ‘female’.

• encouraging employees to share their pronouns in email signatures. This helps to normalize the conversation around gender and discourage assumptions about employee identity

• making positive statements by marking days like non-binary people’s day (14 July), Trans day of visibility (31 March) and international pronouns day (21 October).