Sexual orientation: Testing the boundaries of direct discrimination

Emily Skinner discusses the Supreme Court’s ruling in the ‘gay cake’ case on alleged sexual orientation discrimination and the potential for conflict with religious beliefs ‘Mr Lee brought claims under Northern Ireland’s discrimination legislation for direct discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, religious belief and/or political opinion.’ In recent years, there have been several …
This post is only available to members.

Religious Discrimination: Is the law working?

Alex Bearman considers the findings of a recent report on whether the legislation which protects religious freedoms is striking the right balance ‘In keeping with the Commission’s stance in the cases where it has intervened, the report expresses strong opposition to extending the exceptions which currently exist to commercial organisations.’The laws which seek to protect …
This post is only available to members.

Discrimination: Bake’s off: lessons from the Bert and Ernie cake case

A controversial judgment has reignited debate about the conflict between protection from discrimination and the values of organisations and their workers. Phil Allen explains ‘While some of the cases on the breadth of the meaning of belief in the context of religious discrimination might raise some interesting arguments, there is a requirement for such beliefs …
This post is only available to members.

Discrimination Law: Managing competing workplace rights

Catherine McGrath sets out recent case law on the conflict between sexual orientation and religious rights at work ‘When faced with competing rights and interests, the courts have to undertake a careful balancing exercise and are afforded wide discretion when considering conflicting ECHR rights.’ On 19 May 2015 the Northern Ireland County Court handed down …
This post is only available to members.