This new data has revealed that sexual orientation discrimination has risen 165%. There has been an increase of discrimination cases that went to employment tribunals across seven categories of discrimination including sexual orientation, disability, religion, race, pregnancy and sex.
It is believed the increase in the number complaints is likely to be a result of reduced fees. Previously, tribunal case fees cost over £1,000 per case but they have since been lowered to just over £300. “It has become far more accessible for employees to lodge sexual orientation discrimination cases,” said Jayne Harrison, Head of Employment Law at Richard Nelson LLP. “Tribunal fees were abolished on 26 July 2017 and since then tribunals have seen an increase