Equality & anti-discrimination law

The Equality Act protects people against discrimination, victimisation, and harassment.

It is unlawful to treat someone unfavourably due to their protected characteristics - age, disability, gender reassignment (including gender identity), marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

However, there are exceptions, including for charities and women only organisations.

How we help

We help charities, public bodies, membership bodies, employers and other organisations to comply with their obligations under the Equality Act. We review and draft equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies and procedures. We advise on inclusion of minorities, particularly where there are competing interests, including advice on lawful positive action.

Our Employment and Dispute Resolution teams also help with bringing or defending Equality Act complaints and claims by beneficiaries, service users, employees, members and volunteers.

Relevant work

  • A large national charity wished to improve the diversity of its trustee board by selecting candidates based on race, gender and other protected characteristics. We advised on the lawful application of positive action measures under the Equality Act 2010.
  • We advised CGD Europe on the high profile claim by Maya Forstater in the Employment Tribunal concerning transgender rights and the right to express views on sex and gender identity.
  • We advised a single sex young people’s charity on challenges to their transgender inclusion policy.
  • We advised a national youth charity on reasonable adjustments for children with learning difficulties.
  • We advised a national membership charity on responding to allegations of racial discrimination.
  • We advised a college associated with a charity on various allegations made by and against senior post holders, including allegations of race discrimination and bullying.
  • We advised a university on using exemptions in equality law so they can offer a grant only to people who are disadvantaged.
  • We advised a membership charity on managing its relationship with volunteers who publicly challenged its equality and diversity policy.
  • We advised a fundraising team about accepting donations which are restricted towards benefiting people with particular protected characteristics.
Meet our team
You May Also Be Interested In

UK Supreme Court unanimously rules legal definition of “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 is based on biological sex; For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16

This article was first published on the 16 April 2025, and has been updated following the publication of the EHRC Update. On 16 April 2025, the UK Supreme Court reached a unanimous decision, in the case of For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] USCK 16, that the terms ”man”, “woman” and “sex” …
Read more

Webinar | Membership masterclass – dealing with internal elections | 18 June 2025

Are you a charity or non-profit with a wider membership, or a professional membership body? Join Mark Abbott, Senior Associate and Parliamentary Agent in our Charity and Social Enterprise team, and Helen Fry, Senior Associate in our Public & Regulatory team, for a one-hour webinar on how to manage your internal elections. We will cover: …
Read more

Early Neutral Evaluation: A game-changer for resolving sports disputes

Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE) is becoming an increasingly valuable tool in UK dispute resolution. While commonly used in business and contractual disagreements, ENE is also gaining traction in the world of professional sports, where legal conflicts often involve sponsorship deals, regulatory issues, and financial disputes between clubs, players, and governing bodies. Recent high-profile sports disputes, …
Read more

Government considers a range of cost protection options for claimants bringing discrimination claims

Most organisations will, at some point, have to respond to a claim (meritorious or not) alleging discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. The usual rule for most litigation before the courts in England and Wales is that the loser pays the winner’s costs (or at least pays a proportion of them). The government is considering …
Read more

Strategic litigation: Driving change and positive impact. January 2025

Over the past six months there continues to be an appetite to use the tools of strategic litigation to create accountability and address harms. We’re using this roundup to share information about key updates and insights in the area through litigation and policy action. Strategic litigation has had a significant impact on decision-making, policy setting, …
Read more