Discrimination in the supply of goods and services

Businesses that supply goods, facilities or services to the public will need to be made aware of a recent Supreme Court decision concerning their obligations under anti-discrimination legislation. The court held that hotel owners who refused a double room to a gay couple in a civil partnership, on religious grounds, had directly discriminated against them on the grounds of their sexual orientation under the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/1263). The Regulations were replaced by provisions in the Equality Act 2010 from 1 October 2010, but the provisions with which the case is concerned have remained much the same.