Indirect sex discrimination

Case 7: The facts

Airline pilot Jessica Starmer brought a claim of sex discrimination when her employer refused her request to reduce her hours by half.

The employer said she had to work either full-time or 75% of her hours. It refused her request because of the additional costs that would be involved, and its inability to re-organise the work or recruit extra employees to cover her hours.

At the tribunal, the employer also argued that Starmer should fly a certain number of hours on safety grounds, in order to maintain her flying standards.

The ruling

Finding that the refusal to allow Starmer to work part-time was indeed indirect sex discrimination, the Employment Appeal Tribunal confirmed that the requirement to work a specified number of hours does amount to a "provision, criterion or practice" (PCP).

It also held that a tribunal is entitled to rely on its own industrial knowledge and experience, rather than relying on statistics available from that particular workplace, in deciding whether a PCP has a greater effect on one sex than the other.

British Airways v Starmer UKEAT/0306/05