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Sex discrimination: "Genuine occupational qualification" defence upheld

This report relates to 1 case(s)

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    Lasertop Ltd v Webster [1997] IRLR 498 EAT (2 other reports)

    • Gap in SDA

      Date:
      1 September 1997

      In Lasertop Ltd v Webster (11 April 1997) EOR75E, the EAT holds that an important limitation on the genuine occupational qualification exception to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 does not operate in respect of recruitment for a start-up business.

    • GOQ limitation does not apply to start-up

      Date:
      1 September 1997

      The limitation on the genuine occupational qualification exception (GOQ) to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, where the employer has existing employees who can be employed on the relevant duties, does not operate in respect of recruitment for a start-up business, according to the EAT in Lasertop Ltd v Webster.

The sex discrimination complaint of a man who, when he applied for employment at a women's health club was told that only female staff would be employed, was not well-founded, holds the EAT in Lasertop Ltd v Webster 11.4.97 EAT 956/96. The employer was entitled to rely on the defence that being a woman was a "genuine occupational qualification" for the job, in order to preserve decency or privacy.