Price v Powys County Council UKEAT/0133/20/LA

Appeal against the ET’s decision dismissing the Claimant’s claim of direct sex discrimination relating to shared parental leave. Appeal dismissed.

The Claimant, who is employed by the Respondent, enquired about his entitlements under the Respondent's shared parental leave policy. He was informed that he would only be entitled to the equivalent of statutory maternity pay, and he contended that the policy was discriminatory in that employees on statutory maternity leave and on adoption leave were entitled to pay at higher rates during their leave periods than those on shared parental leave. The Claimant lodged a claim in the ET for direct discrimination on the grounds of gender, and relied on two comparators: a female worker receiving maternity pay, and a female worker receiving adoption pay. The ET rejected the first comparator on the basis that there was a material difference between the Claimant's circumstances and those of his comparator, and it concluded that the second comparator was not materially the same. The Claimant appealed.

The EAT held that the ET erred only in relying on compulsion as a differentiating factor, while the other four factors gave rise (individually and cumulatively) to relevant and significant differences compared to shared parental leave. The error in respect of compulsion did not vitiate the ET's conclusion overall. Accordingly, the ET was correct to reject the Claimant's chosen comparator of a female on adoption leave, since the circumstances of that comparator were materially different from those of a male on shared parental leave.

http://www.gov.uk/employment-appeal-tribunal-decisions/mr-b-price-v-powys-county-council-ukeat-slash-0133-slash-20-slash-la-v

Published: 15/04/2021 17:43

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