{"id":18111,"date":"2024-02-27T22:24:53","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T22:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dlapiper.com\/beaware\/?p=18111"},"modified":"2024-02-27T22:24:53","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T22:24:53","slug":"provision-of-goods-services-and-facilities-discrimination-on-grounds-of-religion-or-belief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dlapiper.com\/beaware\/provision-of-goods-services-and-facilities-discrimination-on-grounds-of-religion-or-belief\/","title":{"rendered":"Provision of goods, services and facilities: Discrimination on grounds of religion or belief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>At a glance<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion or belief against a service user by a provider of goods, services or facilities.<\/li>\n<li>In Billy Graham Evangelistic Association v Scottish Event Campus Limited, the Glasgow Commercial Court awarded damages of \u00a397,325 for religious discrimination.<\/li>\n<li>In 2023, the Stand Comedy Club admitted discriminating against Joanna Cherry MP on grounds of religion or belief when it cancelled a Festival show because of her gender-critical beliefs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As well as prohibiting discrimination on grounds of religion or belief in the employment sphere, the Equality Act 2010 also prohibits discrimination against a service user by a provider of goods, services or facilities. \u00a0Direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation are all prohibited in much the same way as they are in the workplace.<\/p>\n<p>Although not as common as employment disputes,\u00a0 there have been various high-profile cases where service providers have been accused of religion or belief discrimination.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As well as showing how these issues can arise in a wider business context,\u00a0 the cases also demonstrate the type of factors which businesses should and should not consider in reaching commercial decisions and when facing pressure from different stakeholders with conflicting views.<\/p>\n<p>The first notable case arose when the SSE Hydro Arena cancelled a performance by Franklin Graham,\u00a0 an evangelical preacher and son of Billy Graham.\u00a0 The second came about when the Stand Comedy Club cancelled the appearance of Joanna Cherry MP at an Edinburgh Festival event because of her gender critical beliefs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Franklin Graham and the SEC<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (<strong>BGEA<\/strong>) hired the SSE Hydro Arena from Scottish Event Campus Limited (<strong>SEC<\/strong>) for the \u201cFranklin Graham Event\u201d. \u00a0The event, scheduled for 30 May 2020, \u00a0was to be a free Christian Evangelical outreach event for over 12,000 members of the general public, presented by Franklin Graham, \u00a0\u00a0a contentious American evangelist.<\/p>\n<p>In the months running up to May 2020, \u00a0there was growing opposition to the event including protests on social media, an online petition, \u00a0and some mainstream press coverage.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Protesters claimed that Mr Graham might use the event to air controversial views on a variety of subjects.\u00a0 In late January 2020, \u00a0Franklin Graham issued a Facebook post explaining the purpose of and inviting members of the LGBTQ+ community to the event.\u00a0\u00a0 Two days later, SEC terminated its agreement with BGEA.<\/p>\n<p>BGEA claimed that SEC had discriminated by terminating the agreement on the basis of a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, namely, religious belief.<\/p>\n<p>SEC maintained that the contract was terminated due to security concerns because of the possibility of protests outside and inside the venue.\u00a0 \u00a0However,\u00a0 minutes disclosed that the SEC board discussed what might be said by Franklin Graham at the event.\u00a0 In addition, SEC\u2019s principal shareholder, Glasgow City Council, had asked for the event to be cancelled. SEC was also concerned that artists might refuse to play at the venue and because its sponsor considered that the event was not compatible with its values.<\/p>\n<p>A letter from Glasgow City Council to SEC said, \u00a0\u201c<em>Glasgow is well known as a city which is friendly to all people, but particularly including from the LGBTQ and Muslim communities.\u00a0 I do not want to send a message to those communities that the Council prepared to welcome any person who has the potential to make such comments<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The court decided that by terminating the agreement SEC directly discriminated in that it treated BGEA less favourably than it would have treated others.\u00a0 It did so because of a protected characteristic, namely, the religious or philosophical beliefs of BGEA and Franklin Graham.\u00a0 It acted under pressure from others including its shareholder, its sponsor and for commercial considerations.\u00a0\u00a0 The court awarded damages of \u00a397,325.32.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.scot\/home\/sentences-judgments\/judgments\/2022\/10\/25\/billy-graham-evangelistic-association-v-scottish-event-campus-limited\">Click here<\/a> for a summary of the Judgment of the Glasgow Commercial Court.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Joanna Cherry and the Stand Comedy Club<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Joanna Cherry is the MP for South-West Edinburgh who is understood to hold gender-critical beliefs.\u00a0\u00a0 In January 2023, \u00a0she was booked to present an \u201cin conversation with\u201d session at a Stand Comedy Club venue during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2023.<\/p>\n<p>In April 2023, the Stand Comedy Club issued a press release referring to \u2018<em>concerns \u2026 raised regarding the \u2018In Conversation with Joanna Cherry event\u2019\u2019<\/em>. \u00a0It stated that the Stand \u2013<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>opposes all forms of discrimination including against people on the basis of their gender identity;<\/li>\n<li>believes that people should have the right to express views that others might find controversial or strongly disagree with, providing this is done within the law; and<\/li>\n<li>would respect the views of staff who had expressed concerns about Joanna Cherry\u2019s views and who did not want to be involved in promoting or staging the show.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Later, in May 2023, the Stand issued a further statement stating that it was no longer possible for it to host the Joanna Cherry event at its venue.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Key operational staff were unwilling to work on the event and, out of respect for their views, the Stand would not compel them to do so.\u00a0\u00a0 This meant that the venue was unable to proceed with the event on a \u201c<em>properly staff, safe and legally compliant basis<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>According to newspaper reports, following this statement, Joanna Cherry commenced legal action against the Stand seeking to have the Fringe show reinstated.\u00a0\u00a0 The <a href=\"https:\/\/eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fjoannacherry.scot%2Fimages%2FNote%2520by%2520Senior%2520Counsel%2520for%2520Joanna%2520Cherry%2520re%2520the%2520Stand%2520Comedy%2520Club%2520-%25208%2520May%25202023.pdf&amp;data=05%7C02%7Csarah.hellewell%40dlapiper.com%7C97bd2eace4764422779e08dc37a8d8e6%7Ce855e7acc54640d299f7a100522010f9%7C1%7C0%7C638446445877197979%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=%2FZ6fSVIbtAWFNNPsHBX4C4i0HY2njzqsXNjXhlqRgeI%3D&amp;reserved=0\">legal opinion<\/a> of Aidan O\u2019Neill KC that Ms Cherry had been discriminated against by the Stand on grounds of her protected philosophical belief on the issue of gender identity was made publicly available by Ms Cherry.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Subsequently,\u00a0 the Stand reinstated the \u2018In conversation with Joanna Cherry\u2019 event and, in a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/StandComedyClub\/status\/1657038933748862979?s=20\">public statement<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestand.co.uk\/statement\/may-12-legal-letter\">legal correspondence<\/a>, \u00a0accepted that its previous decision that the event could not go ahead constituted unlawful discrimination against Ms Cherry. \u00a0\u00a0On this basis, the matter was never considered by the Courts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As well as prohibiting discrimination on grounds of religion or belief in the employment sphere, the Equality Act 2010 also prohibits discrimination against a service user by a provider of goods, services or facilities. 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