Forstater v Centre for Global Development Europe

Maya Forstater v Centre for Global Development
CourtCentral London Employment Tribunal
Decided19 December 2019 (2019-12-19)
CitationsEmployment Tribunal: Forstater v CGD Europe & Anor [2019] UKET 2200909
Employment Appeal Tribunal: Forstater v CGD Europe & Ors [2021] UKEAT 0105_20_1006
Case history
Appealed toEmployment Appeal Tribunal
Subsequent actionsAppeal argued 27 April 2021
Decided 10 June 2021[1]
Full merits hearing March 2022[2]
Court membership
Judges sittingEmployment Judge James Tayler at the original tribunal; Mr Justice Choudhury chaired the appeal tribunal; Employment Judge Andrew Glennie at the tribunal on the merits of the case

Forstater v Centre for Global Development Europe is a UK employment and discrimination case brought by Maya Forstater against the Center for Global Development (CGD).[1][3] The Employment Appeal Tribunal decided that gender-critical views are capable of being protected as a belief under the Equality Act 2010. The tribunal further clarified that this finding does not mean that people with gender-critical beliefs can express them in a manner that discriminates against trans people.

In 2019, Forstater's consulting contract for CGD was not renewed after she published a series of social media messages describing transgender women as men during online discourse regarding potential reforms to the Gender Recognition Act, which led to concerns being raised by staff at CGD. Forstater challenged the non-renewal of her contract at the Central London Employment Tribunal. In December 2019, a preliminary hearing was held to establish whether Forstater's beliefs qualified as a protected belief under the Equality Act 2010. Employment Judge Tayler ruled that they did not qualify and stated that her gender-critical views were "incompatible with human dignity and fundamental rights of others".[4][5][6]

Forstater appealed, and the appeal was heard by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in April 2021. The decision was reserved, with the decision in her favour published on 10 June 2021. As with the original hearing, the appeal was on the narrow issue of whether her beliefs were protected under the Equality Act. The Employment Appeal Tribunal found that Forstater's beliefs were protected, meeting the final requirement in Grainger plc v Nicholson, specifically that they were "worthy of respect in a democratic society".[7][8] At a subsequent full merits hearing, the Employment Tribunal upheld Forstater's case by concluding that she had suffered direct discrimination on the basis of her gender critical beliefs.[9] The judgement for remedies was handed down in June 2023, with Forstater awarded compensation of £91,500 for loss of earnings, injury to feelings and aggravated damages, with an additional £14,900 added as interest.[10][11]

  1. ^ a b Forstater v CGD Europe & Ors [2021] UKEAT 0105_20_1006
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference FullMerits was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Forstater v CGD Europe & Anor [2019] UKET 2200909
  4. ^ "Researcher who lost job for tweeting 'men cannot change into women' loses employment tribunal". The Independent. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  5. ^ Bowcott, Owen (18 December 2019). "Judge rules against researcher who lost job over transgender tweets". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Maya Forstater: Woman loses tribunal over transgender tweets". BBC News. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  7. ^ Gordon, Jane (23 April 2021). "'I am fighting for the right to say men can never be women'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Maya Forstater v CGD Europe and others: Appeal No. UKEAT/0105/20/JOJ" (PDF). GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Maya Forstater: Woman discriminated against over trans tweets, tribunal rules". BBC. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Remedies was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Bryant, Miranda (1 July 2023). "Woman who lost job after tweeting view on biological sex awarded £100,000". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2023.