Coverage of legislation

Case 5: The facts

Church minister Helen Percy was asked to resign because she had an affair with a married elder of the parish. She brought claims for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination, but the Employment Appeal Tribunal and the Court of Session held that she was not covered by the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) because she was an office-holder.

The ruling

The House of Lords held that Percy could pursue her discrimination claim; she worked “under a contract to personally execute any work or labour”, and this was what was required to be covered by the SDA.

It went on to say that an office-holder can also be an employee – meaning that Percy could also have pursued her unfair dismissal claim, had she appealed on that point.

Percy v Church of Scotland Board of National Mission [2005] UKHL 73