Male police officers win discrimination claim over ‘gender rebalance’ move

A tribunal has ruled that Suffolk Constabulary unlawfully discriminated against two male officers by removing them from a specialist unit and replacing them with female colleagues to rebalance gender representation.  

The force acted despite HR warnings that the move would be discriminatory. The decision followed a female officer’s departure, which left the unit all-male, and was found to constitute direct gender discrimination.  

Bethan Jones, Employment Partner at Spencer West, shared her comments on the case: “Positive discrimination and decisions based on gender alone can lead to significant risk.” 

Suffolk Police Federation successfully supported the two male officers in the Employment Tribunal, with a representative saying the case should never have reached a tribunal, before highlighting the importance of proper processes and accountability. 

Further adding to her comments, Bethan warned that while improving diversity may be “necessary and admirable”, it must not come at the expense of fairness or legal obligation. 

Federation Equality Lead Emma Arthurs emphasised that the outcome should be seen as a learning opportunity, highlighting shortcomings in governance, record-keeping and decision-making, and called for greater transparency and accountability to prevent similar cases in future. 

Read the full article in People Management.