What is sexual orientation discrimination?

The Equality Act 2010 merged more than 100 pieces of anti-discrimination legislation, including the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007. This Act is a powerful weapon against discrimination in all its many forms, including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation. Unfair discrimination isn't acceptable anywhere but it can be particularly damaging when it occurs in the workplace.

That's why our experienced employment law solicitors are here to help if you believe you've been treated unfairly in the workplace because of your sexual orientation, or perceived sexual orientation. We may also be able to help if you think you were discriminated against for the same reasons during the recruitment process.

If you believe you've been a victim of discrimination because of your sexual orientation, speak to one of our sympathetic and experienced employment solicitors today. Call us on 0330 041 5869 or contact us and we'll call you.

What can I do about sexual orientation discrimination?

You may find that the discrimination and other unfair treatment based on your sexual orientation is expressed as 'banter', or it might be quite subtle. You might have a line manager who is polite to your face but who excludes you from meetings you should be invited to and passes you over for promotion. You might even find that you're not given parental leave because you're in a same-sex marriage or you may be a highly qualified individual who finds that you've failed to get a second interview for a new job before discovering that someone with far less experience has been hired instead.

Yet whether discrimination is subtle or overt, it's still discrimination; and we take your claim for discrimination very seriously.

If you've been discriminated against in the workplace, the time to seek redress is now. That's because you only have three months, minus one day, from the date of the last discriminatory act in which to lodge a complaint at an Employment Tribunal.

Before you can do so, it will be necessary to submit details of your claim to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) in order to give them a chance to establish whether your employer will agree to 'early conciliation'. This takes up to a month, which will be added onto the three-month period where necessary. Where ACAS doesn't succeed in its conciliation attempts, we may then be able to file a claim at an employment tribunal on your behalf.

If you believe you've been unfairly discriminated against, speak to one of our experienced solicitors today. Call us on 0330 041 5869 or contact us and we'll call you.