Homophobic banter

English v Thomas Sanderson Blinds Ltd EAT Appeal No UKEAT/0556/07/LA 20 February

The claimant complained of harassment in that for many years he had been submitted to sexual innuendo by his work colleagues to the effect that he was homosexual. This cause of conduct originated from a manager who learned that the claimant had (a) attended a boarding school and (b) lived in Brighton! Over the years, work colleagues had engaged in what is sometimes described as ‘banter’ of a homophobic nature with the claimant. The claimant was not homosexual, nor was he mistakenly or genuinely thought to be so by his tormentors, and he himself fully accepted that they did not really believe him to be gay. Was he protected by reg 5 of the Employment Equality (sexual orientation) Regulations 2003? It provides: