The Equality Act was introduced in 2010 and amongst other things, made it unlawful to discriminate against members of the public in the delivery of goods and services because of a 'protected characteristic'. Those protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
The case of Asher's bakery in Northern Ireland is a good example of these issues. The bakery advertised that it could ice cakes using the customer's own pictures and graphics and on this basis Mr Lee, a gay man, ordered a cake to celebrate the passing of the same sex marriage law in Northern Ireland. The design of the cake included the words: 'support gay marriage'. After taking the booking, the bakery contacted Mr Lee to say that they could not fulfil the order on the basis that they are Christians and were not prepared to produce a cake promoting a cause in which they did not believe.
Mr Lee brought claim for discrimination against the bakery and won. The award was £500. This is a relatively small sum and is unlikely to have caused Asher's bakery financial hardship to pay it (leaving aside the issue of legal fees). However the adverse publicity to the bakery was immense and it is likely that their reputation was damaged as a result of the case.
It is vital for firms and companies to ensure that they fully understand their obligations under the Equality Act and have the appropriate policies, procedures and training in place.
To ensure that your policies and procedures are compliant, contact us.