The Claimant (P) was a Church of England priest in a same-sex marriage. P was offered a job as a hospital chaplain, conditional upon him obtaining the necessary licence from the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham (the Bishop).
The Bishop refused to grant P the licence on the basis that P's same-sex marriage was contrary to the teachings of the Church of England and the guidance from the House of Bishops.
Without the licence P was unable to take the job and subsequently brought a claim for sexual orientation and/or marriage discrimination.
Under the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), both sexual orientation and marriage/civil partnership are protected characteristics. It is unlawful to discriminate against someone on the grounds of a protected characteristic. However, there are a number of limited occupational requirement exceptions which can be relied on to make otherwise discriminatory acts lawful. This includes a religious occupational requirement exception.
In its decision, the Court of Appeal noted that the 'doctrines of the religion' required marriage to be between a man and a woman. There was therefore a relevant occupational requirement exception which applied.
The Court of Appeal rejected the argument that the exception did not apply because the job was not within a religious organisation itself, holding that it is the purpose of the employment that is relevant, not the nature of the organisation.
The Bishop was therefore entitled to rely on the religious occupational requirement exception and the discrimination was lawful.
Whilst this case is very fact-specific, it serves as a reminder of the breadth of the Act generally. Not only might employers fall foul of the Act in refusing employment to individuals on the basis of protected characteristics, but training bodies and qualification bodies also need to carefully consider their obligations under the Act.
Employers and qualification bodies should be cautious when seeking to rely on occupational requirement exceptions. It is important to consider whether any occupational requirement is essential to the role, and to ensure that it relates specifically to the job in question. It is advisable to ensure that a clear audit trail is kept from the outset, justifying the occupational requirement.