Direct Discrimination
If you’ve been treated unfairly by someone simply because of who you are, this could be direct discrimination. Direct discrimination is against the Equality Act 2010. Discrimination which is against the Equality Act is unlawful. This means you can take action in the civil courts.
If you’ve experienced unlawful discrimination, you may be able to do something about it.
Read this page to find out more about direct discrimination.
Top tips
Remember direct discrimination can be because of:
who you are
who someone thinks you are
someone you’re with.
It’s only unlawful discrimination if you’re treated differently and worse because of a protected characteristic.
What is direct discrimination?
Direct discrimination is when you’re treated differently and worse than someone else for certain reasons. The Equality Act says you’ve been treated less favorably.
Direct discrimination can be because of:
age
disability
gender reassignment
marriage or civil partnership
pregnancy and maternity
race
religion or belief
sex
sexual orientation.
The Equality Act calls these things protected characteristics.
Why are you being treated differently?
Not all unfair treatment is unlawful discrimination under the Equality Act. It’s only unlawful discrimination if you’re treated differently because of a protected characteristic.
It doesn’t matter if the person treating you differently didn’t mean to discriminate against you or if they didn’t know they were discriminating. If someone treats you differently because of a protected characteristic, it’s direct discrimination.
Why is it important to know if something is unlawful discrimination?
It’s important to know when unfair treatment is unlawful discrimination as you can only take action under the Equality Act if this is the case. If you’ve been treated unfairly, but it’s not unlawful discrimination there may be other things you can do.
What’s meant by less favorable treatment?
Less favorable treatment means you’ve been treated differently to someone else who doesn’t have the same protected characteristic as you and you’re worse off because of it.
Racial segregation
Racial segregation, if it’s deliberate, is always considered to be less favorable treatment. This means you can challenge racial segregation under the Equality Act as it’s direct discrimination.
Direct discrimination because of who someone thinks you are
If someone treats you differently because of who they think you are, it’s also direct discrimination. This is called direct discrimination by perception.
Direct discrimination because of someone you’re with or someone you know
It’s also direct discrimination if someone treats you differently because of someone you’re with or someone you know. This could be a parent, child, partner or friend. This is called direct discrimination by association.
When is it lawful to treat someone less favorably?
Age
Sometimes it’s not direct discrimination if someone treats you differently because of age. The law says it’s possible to justify direct age discrimination if there’s a good enough reason for treating you differently.
