On 14 September 2020, an employment tribunal upheld claims for harassment, direct discrimination and victimisation on the ground of gender reassignment brought against Jaguar Land Rover Ltd by one of its engineers, Ms Taylor, who, having identified as gender fluid/non-binary, usually dressed in women’s clothing. Claims by Ms Taylor included that she was subjected to insults and abusive jokes at work, suffered difficulties with the use of toilet facilities and managerial support.
A person has the protected characteristic of gender reassignment if they are proposing to undergo, are undergoing or have undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning their sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex. Noting that the question of whether a gender fluid/non-binary person fell within the Equality Act 2010 was a novel point of law, the tribunal held that Ms Taylor was covered.
In favour of the gender fluid employee, on 2 October 2020, an employment tribunal judge awarded Ms Taylor, a gender fluid employee, £180,000 in compensation following its September 2020 judgment in Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover Ltd where it was held that gender fluid and non-binary people were protected from discrimination in the workplace under the Equality Act 2010. Jaguar Land Rover has apologised to Ms Taylor and stated that it will use the outcome to inform its diversity and inclusion strategy.
