Father of three fails in his claim over ‘gay taunting’

A married heterosexual father with three daughters who says he was forced to leave his job after being subjected to persistent homophobic banter from his work colleagues has lost claim for compensation.

Stephen English worked as a salesman for Thomas Sanderson Blinds in Portsmouth. He told an employment tribunal that work colleagues started calling him names and making homophobic comments to him after they found that he had gone to a public school and that he lived in Brighton.

Mr English found the taunting so distressing that he eventually felt obliged to leave his job. He made a complaint of harassment under the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003. However the tribunal rejected his claim because of the fact that Mr English was not actually gay and his work colleagues did not believe him to be gay even though they taunted him.

He therefore was not protected by the regulations because the taunting was not due to his sexual orientation but rather because his colleagues were reacting to stereotypical factors such as his having attended a public school and the fact that he lived in Brighton.

That ruling was upheld by the Employment Appeals Tribunal. Mr English is now taking the case to the Court of Appeal with the backing of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.