Protections for transgender employees from discrimination – what is the law in Ireland?

In the recent UK Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Limited v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 26, the UK Supreme Court determined that the terms “man,” “woman,” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer strictly to biological sex. As a result, individuals with a UK Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) do not acquire their “certified sex” (i.e., the sex affirmed by a GRC) for the purposes of UK discrimination law.

The UK Supreme Court made it clear that transgender people should not be discriminated against, and that they are protected under the characteristic of “gender reassignment”. Transgender individuals are also able to claim direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment on the ground of perception or association with their acquired gender. 

However, the question that the UK Supreme Court was being asked to consider was whether a transgender person who has a gender recognition certificate would be treated as their acquired sex for the purpose of the Equality Act, or whether the definition of ‘sex’ under the Equality Act was limited to a person’s biological sex.

In determining that such terms are strictly limited to biological sex, the decision impacts the way transgender people in the UK access services and single sex spaces under UK equality legislation. One of the most publicised issues for employers in this context is probably in the provision of toilets and changing facilities. The decision means that, whereas previously it was considered discriminatory not to let transgender employees use the toilet or changing facilitiy that align with their gender, to do so now raises complex legal considerations in the UK.

Read motre on the original article : https://www.lewissilkin.com/en-ie/insights/2025/07/25/protections-for-transgender-employees-from-discrimination-what-is-the-law-in-ireland