No defence to direct discrimination

With a few limited statutory exceptions (see list below), there is no defence to direct discrimination, except age discrimination (see pages 211-213). Except in the case of age, an employer is not allowed to justify less favourable treatment due to a protected characteristic. For example, an employer is not allowed to justify not promoting female managers because clients prefer to deal with a man, or not putting a physically disabled worker in a client-facing role because the employer thinks they don’t fit the image of the business. In reality, employers rarely admit to direct discrimination, and this can make proving it very difficult.