Religious Discrimination

Must Discriminate Against an Identifiable Group

In the last chapter of the saga of the 'crucifix case' (Eweida v BA) the Court of Appeal has said that the claimant in a religious discrimination case will not succeed if they cannot show evidence of disadvantage to a wider group caused by the provision in question – in this case, not being allowed to wear visible jewellery with an open-necked blouse (including a crucifix). The evidence was that it was only the claimant's personal choice that was in issue in this case, since there was no evidence that wearing a crucifix was a religious requirement, so her claim failed.

Points to note –

This 'group' approach applies to all forms of unlawful discrimination except disability discrimination because the Disability Discrimination Act specifically states that it is sufficient if a provision criterion or practice or any physical feature of the premises 'places the disabled person concerned at a substantial disadvantage'. The Court of Appeal in Eweida did not have to...