Justifying Discrimination – Is The Tide Turning?

Employers who have been advised that they can adopt or continue a certain, potentially discriminatory, practice if they can objectively justify it will often assume that they can base a justification argument on cost. In fact the picture is more complex, but a recent case suggests that the law may start to become more favourable to employers.

In discrimination law, certain policies or practices that are potentially discriminatory will be lawful if the employer can show that they are objectively justified. The alternative way of describing this is that the policy or practice is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. It is possible for an employer to objectively justify indirect discrimination because of sex, race, religion, disability or sexual orientation and both direct and indirect discrimination because of age.