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Forstater v Centre for Global Development Europe
Forstater v Centre for Global Development Europe is a UK employment and discrimination case brought by Maya Forstater against the Centre for Global Development (CGD). The Employment Appeal Tribunal decided that gender-critical views are capable of being protected as a belief under the Equality Act 2010. The tribunal further clarified that this finding does not mean that people with gender-critical beliefs can express them in a manner that discriminates against trans people.
In 2019, Forstater's consulting contract for CGD was not renewed after she published a series of social media messages describing transgender women as men during online discourse regarding potential reforms to the Gender Recognition Act, which led to concerns being raised by staff at CGD. Forstater challenged the non-renewal of her contract at the Central London Employment Tribunal. In December 2019, a preliminary hearing was held to establish whether Forstater's beliefs qualified as a protected belief under the Equality Act 2010. Employment Judge Tayler ruled that they did not qualify and stated that her gender-critical views were "incompatible with human dignity and fundamental rights of others".
Forstater appealed, and the appeal was heard by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in April 2021. The decision was reserved, with the decision in her favour published on 10 June 2021. As with the original hearing, the appeal was on the narrow issue of whether her beliefs were protected under the Equality Act. The Employment Appeal Tribunal found that Forstater's beliefs were protected, meeting the final requirement in Grainger plc v Nicholson, specifically that they were "worthy of respect in a democratic society". In 2022, after a full merits hearing, the Employment Tribunal upheld Forstater's case by concluding that she had suffered direct discrimination on the basis of her gender critical beliefs. The judgement for remedies was handed down in June 2023, with Forstater awarded compensation of £91,500 for loss of earnings, injury to feelings and aggravated damages, with an additional £14,900 added as interest.
Forstater, a tax expert and researcher on sustainable business and international development, was contracted in January 2015 by CGD, a think-tank on international development, as a visiting fellow. Forstater has had academic research on corporate responsibility and illicit financial flows published by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Chr. Michelsen Institute. She was also previously a researcher for the United Nations Environment Programme Inquiry into; The Design of a Sustainable Financial Systems.
In September 2018 Forstater shared a series of messages on her personal Twitter account. She also had a private discussion with one member of staff who wanted to discuss the issue on Slack. She argued that it is not possible to change sex, that "women" means adult human female and that men cannot become women, whilst discussing potential changes to the Gender Recognition Act which would have allowed a Gender Recognition Certificate to be obtained on the basis on self-identification. Members of staff at CGD's Washington DC office raised concern which led to an investigation. In December 2018 her contract expired and CGD decided not to renew it due to her views, which led to Forstater suing CGD for direct and indirect belief discrimination, indirect sex discrimination, and victimisation.
On 13–21 November 2019 preliminary hearings were heard at the Central London Employment Tribunal. The question before the hearing was whether Forstater's view that "sex is biological, binary, immutable and important" was covered by the protected characteristic "religion and belief" under section 10 of the Equality Act. Forstater paid for her legal representation through a crowdsourced fundraiser, raising over £120,000. Forstater stated that she "respected people's pronouns and rights to freedom of expression", but "enforcing the dogma that transwomen are women is totalitarian". Barrister Anya Palmer represented Forstater. According to barrister Naomi Cunningham, Palmer had had the idea of "running a case on religion or belief discrimination, on what’s now called gender critical belief" even before Palmer had found a client, Forstater, for such a case.
Messages shared by Forstater on social media were presented in court as evidence. This included messages on her personal Twitter account where she shared her opposition to proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act and stated that "men cannot change into women". She also described Pippa Bunce, a gender fluid person who won an award for Executive Businesswoman of the Year, as "a man in a dress".
On 19 December 2019 a 26-page judgment was published finding that her view was "incompatible with human dignity and fundamental rights of others" and therefore not afforded protection under the Equality Act. Judge Tayler found that Forstater's "absolutist" beliefs satisfied the first four parts of Grainger plc v Nicholson (2009) with some reservations about its "cogency and coherence". He found it failed the fifth part, because it was not "worthy of respect in a democratic society".
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Forstater v Centre for Global Development Europe
Forstater v Centre for Global Development Europe is a UK employment and discrimination case brought by Maya Forstater against the Centre for Global Development (CGD). The Employment Appeal Tribunal decided that gender-critical views are capable of being protected as a belief under the Equality Act 2010. The tribunal further clarified that this finding does not mean that people with gender-critical beliefs can express them in a manner that discriminates against trans people.
In 2019, Forstater's consulting contract for CGD was not renewed after she published a series of social media messages describing transgender women as men during online discourse regarding potential reforms to the Gender Recognition Act, which led to concerns being raised by staff at CGD. Forstater challenged the non-renewal of her contract at the Central London Employment Tribunal. In December 2019, a preliminary hearing was held to establish whether Forstater's beliefs qualified as a protected belief under the Equality Act 2010. Employment Judge Tayler ruled that they did not qualify and stated that her gender-critical views were "incompatible with human dignity and fundamental rights of others".
Forstater appealed, and the appeal was heard by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in April 2021. The decision was reserved, with the decision in her favour published on 10 June 2021. As with the original hearing, the appeal was on the narrow issue of whether her beliefs were protected under the Equality Act. The Employment Appeal Tribunal found that Forstater's beliefs were protected, meeting the final requirement in Grainger plc v Nicholson, specifically that they were "worthy of respect in a democratic society". In 2022, after a full merits hearing, the Employment Tribunal upheld Forstater's case by concluding that she had suffered direct discrimination on the basis of her gender critical beliefs. The judgement for remedies was handed down in June 2023, with Forstater awarded compensation of £91,500 for loss of earnings, injury to feelings and aggravated damages, with an additional £14,900 added as interest.
Forstater, a tax expert and researcher on sustainable business and international development, was contracted in January 2015 by CGD, a think-tank on international development, as a visiting fellow. Forstater has had academic research on corporate responsibility and illicit financial flows published by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Chr. Michelsen Institute. She was also previously a researcher for the United Nations Environment Programme Inquiry into; The Design of a Sustainable Financial Systems.
In September 2018 Forstater shared a series of messages on her personal Twitter account. She also had a private discussion with one member of staff who wanted to discuss the issue on Slack. She argued that it is not possible to change sex, that "women" means adult human female and that men cannot become women, whilst discussing potential changes to the Gender Recognition Act which would have allowed a Gender Recognition Certificate to be obtained on the basis on self-identification. Members of staff at CGD's Washington DC office raised concern which led to an investigation. In December 2018 her contract expired and CGD decided not to renew it due to her views, which led to Forstater suing CGD for direct and indirect belief discrimination, indirect sex discrimination, and victimisation.
On 13–21 November 2019 preliminary hearings were heard at the Central London Employment Tribunal. The question before the hearing was whether Forstater's view that "sex is biological, binary, immutable and important" was covered by the protected characteristic "religion and belief" under section 10 of the Equality Act. Forstater paid for her legal representation through a crowdsourced fundraiser, raising over £120,000. Forstater stated that she "respected people's pronouns and rights to freedom of expression", but "enforcing the dogma that transwomen are women is totalitarian". Barrister Anya Palmer represented Forstater. According to barrister Naomi Cunningham, Palmer had had the idea of "running a case on religion or belief discrimination, on what’s now called gender critical belief" even before Palmer had found a client, Forstater, for such a case.
Messages shared by Forstater on social media were presented in court as evidence. This included messages on her personal Twitter account where she shared her opposition to proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act and stated that "men cannot change into women". She also described Pippa Bunce, a gender fluid person who won an award for Executive Businesswoman of the Year, as "a man in a dress".
On 19 December 2019 a 26-page judgment was published finding that her view was "incompatible with human dignity and fundamental rights of others" and therefore not afforded protection under the Equality Act. Judge Tayler found that Forstater's "absolutist" beliefs satisfied the first four parts of Grainger plc v Nicholson (2009) with some reservations about its "cogency and coherence". He found it failed the fifth part, because it was not "worthy of respect in a democratic society".