Sex
Discrimination (Male)
In
Devon Fire and Rescue Services v Owers, a
female employee had made 16 complaints of harassment and intimidation
over three years against Owers, a fire service controller. Six of her
complaints were investigated and although Owers was cleared, the female
employee was awarded a one-off, no strings attached payment of £750
and continued working in her job.
Owers
was subjected to increasingly severe measures by his employer. When
he complained of being harassed by the worker who had accused him, no
action was taken. He was told by the Personnel Department that the situation
would have been different if he had been a woman. He complained of sex
discrimination and won his case.
Transsexual
Wins Pension Case
A
male to female transsexual has won the right to collect her pension
as a woman at 60, instead of the male equivalent of 65 after a ruling
in the European Court of Justice which overruled the UK law which grants
pension rights to transsexuals based on their original gender.
Sarah
Margaret Richards was born a male in 1942 but underwent a sex change
in 2001. In 2002, she then applied for her pension, but under UK law
was identified as a male a had her pension deferred to the age of 65.
The
Court in Brussels ruled that Richards had been the subject of discrimination
saying that “the right not to be discriminated against on
grounds of sex is one of the fundamental human rights. The unequal treatment
in this case is based on Ms Richard’s inability to have the new
gender which she acquired following surgery recognised”.