Mr D Beech v Avon Fire and Rescue Authority — 2020

Mr D Beech brought a sex discrimination claim arising from a recruitment exercise for apprentice firefighters. He said the process favoured women, relying on data showing a higher proportion of women than men were successful at stage 2, and on a letter saying the recruitment process had been fundamentally flawed and halted after a review.

The respondent denied discrimination and said Mr Beech did not progress because he failed an essential part of the assessment centre, namely the ladder climb. The tribunal noted that the claimant had initially pleaded direct sex discrimination, and that at a case management hearing an indirect discrimination issue had also been identified and further particulars were sought. In subsequent particulars, the claimant again referred to direct discrimination on the basis that some women scored more highly than he did.

The Employment Judge held that there was no obvious basis for asserting less favourable treatment because of sex. The judgment states that the claimant needed more than a difference in sex and a difference in score, and that there was no obvious evidence of less favourable treatment or even different treatment. The judge considered it highly likely that Mr Beech was treated in the same way as everyone else at stage 2.

On the materials before the tribunal, the judge accepted the respondent's case that the reason Mr Beech did not progress was his failure to climb a ladder to the required standard, which was described as a reason nothing to do with sex. The complaint of direct sex discrimination was therefore struck out because it had no reasonable prospect of success. The judgment records that Mr Beech's remaining claims stayed listed for a later hearing.