The Court of Appeal has recently granted permission to allow an appeal in respect of Allison Bailey v Stonewall Equality Limited. The appeal is based upon the interpretation of legislation prohibiting organisations from instructing, causing or inducing acts of discrimination.
Background
Ms Bailey was a barrister at a Chambers that established itself as a Diversity Champion of Stonewall Equality Limited (“Stonewall”), a LGBTQ+ charity. Ms Bailey opposed this on the basis that she felt Stonewall promoted ‘trans-extremism’. She later announced on X (formerly Twitter) that she had set up an organisation opposing “gender extremism”.
Stonewall made a complaint to the Chambers, of which two aspects were upheld in relation to statements Ms Bailey had made. This led to Ms Bailey pursuing a claim against Stonewall, stating that it had caused or induced the Chambers to discriminate against her, in breach of section 111 of the Equality Act 2010 (“Section 111”).
Proceedings
In July 2024, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) found that the Employment Tribunal had not erred in its judgment that Stonewall did not “cause” discrimination. Although it had found that the first part of the test was met in that the complaint contributed to the discrimination on a ‘but for’ basis, it did not find that this causal connection was enough to fairly, reasonably or justly hold it liable because it was the Chambers that had responsibility for the determining the outcome of the complaint.
The EAT also found that Stonewall did not “induce” the treatment either. Unlike “cause”, “inducement” requires an intention that the person complained of experiences a detriment. Here, it was found that Stonewall intended for the complaint only to be received as a protest of Ms Bailey’s belief.
The Court of Appeal is allowing an appeal of the EAT’s decision on the grounds that Section 111 has been incorrectly interpreted. As there is no previous caselaw to guide the Tribunal in the reading of this provision, this case will be significant when considering the wider impact of raising complaints about another’s conduct and whether doing so amounts to causing or inducing a discriminatory act against the alleged offender.
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