The case concerned Steven English, who over a long period of time, had been the subject of distasteful homophobic 'banter' at this place of work, Thomas Sanderson Blinds Limited.

Poor Mr English suffered continuous homophobic abuse and was constantly teased about being a homosexual. For some bizarre reason his colleagues directed this abuse at him simply because he (a) attended a boarding school and (b) lived in Brighton.

It was admitted by his employer that the abuse went on, and so we might rightly ask why did this case wind up in the Employment Appeal Tribunal at all when it should have been a straightforward claim for compensation for discriminatory behaviour

Sadly, as ever in employment law, things are rarely straightforward.

The complicating factor was that Mr English was not gay, nor was he mistakenly or genuinely thought to be gay by his tormentors, and he himself accepted that they didn't actually believe him to be gay.

The question then to be decided by the Tribunal was: does homophobic abuse directed at someone known not to be gay constitute a breach of Regulation 5 of the Sexual Orientation Regulations 2003?

After very careful consideration and with some regret, the EAT concluded that it did not, and furthermore, they concluded that the legal position regarding the Regulations implementing the European Directive on Equality is unsatisfactory. Currently they consider that our law gives no protection to people in Mr English's situation.

Notably, leave was given to appeal to the Court of Appeal. The bad news for employers is that this is yet another occasion where our domestic employment laws are found to be wanting when it comes to implementation of European equality legislation. It is likely that UK laws will have to be changed again to enforce more rigorously the concept of equality as defined in the European Directive.

Many employers ask where the wave of anti-discrimination legislation will end. The short answer is: nobody is sure, but if the noble aim of the European legislation to promote dignity in the workplace is to be achieved, then it is likely that further changes will be made. Indeed, there is a strong lobby which would seek to outlaw bullying on account of any physical characteristic, thus making it unlawful to make remarks that someone is too tall, short, fat, slim, bald, wears glasses, false teeth…. the list is endless.

In any event employers will fall foul of the legislation at their peril. Bear in mind the recent case of Mr Ditton, who was the victim of homophobic abuse and who recovered in excess of £120,000 in damages from his employer after two whole days of employment!