Journal of Discrimination and the Law, (2009) Vol. 10, p 101.

Journal of Discrimination and the Law, (2009) Vol. 10, p 101.
(4) There is Liability even if the Discriminator belongs to the Same Protected Group

EA 2010, s.24, codified: R (on the application of A) v Governing Body of JFS[2009] UKSC 15, Lord Clarke ([152] §i):

I do not see that the identity of the discriminator is of any real relevance …. There is certainly nothing in the language or the context of section 1 of the [RRA 1976] or in its statutory purpose to limit the section in that way.
4 DIRECT DISCRIMINATION AND SEGREGATION – RACE ONLY

Section 13(5), Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010) provides that for race only, less favourable treatment includes “segregating” a person from others. In the White Paper preceding the Race Relations Act 1976 (RRA 1976), Racial Discrimination, the Government adopted the observation of the Race Relations Board that:

“[F]or a time segregation may represent a form of accommodation acceptable to all, but if it hardens into patterns, tensions and conflicts will occur when pressures to change that pattern arise.” (Cmnd.6234.[62].)

Brown v Board of Education 347 US 483 (1954); Pel Ltd v Modgill (FTATU v Modgill) [1980] IRLR 142 (EAT)
5 DEFENCES TO DIRECT DISCRIMINATION

(1) The GOR Defence
EA 2010, Sch.9, para.1

An employer may enjoy an exemption:

“by applying in relation to work a requirement to have a particular protected characteristic, if [it] shows that, having regard to the nature or context of the work–

(a) it is an occupational requirement,

(b) the application of the requirement is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, and

(c) the person to whom A applies the requirement does not meet it (or A has reasonable grounds for not being satisfied that the person meets it)”*

*The words in parenthesis do not apply to sex discrimination: Sch.9, para.1(4)

Race and sex – preferences not to have a protected characteristic Amnesty International v Ahmed, [2009] IRLR 884 (EAT).

(2) The ‘Religious Conscience’ Defence – Sch 9, para.2

Permits discrimination on the ground of sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, and of being married or in a civil partnership, by an employer for the purposes of an