Council's gender neutral toilets discriminated against female clerk

Karen Miller said she had to walk past the urinals to access the only cubicle

A town council discriminated against a female clerk because a makeshift gender neutral toilet was "favourable" to men, a tribunal has found.

Karen Miller claimed she was asked to use a temporary gender neutral sign when using the men's toilets at Earl Shilton Town Council in Leicestershire.

She had to walk past the urinals to access the only cubicle, she said.

Ms Miller won an initial tribunal in 2010 and a judge dismissed the council's appeal this month.

Documents show the town council shared a building with a nursery and that the women's toilets were used by the children.

'Less favourable'

If Ms Miller wanted to use the facilities, she had to attract the attention of a nursery worker, who then had to check if the toilet was empty before she could enter.

In a bid to resolve the issue in 2017, Ms Miller was told to use the men's toilet, but when doing so, to put up a gender neutral toilet sign.

Judge James Tayler said the facilities were "less favourable" for women due to the lack of a sanitary bin and the likelihood of coming across a man at the urinal.

He said: "No woman or girl should have to walk past the urinals to get to the toilet, and no man should have the risk of women walking past.

"Even in the smallest of buildings it is possible to have decent facilities, and in larger buildings providing ladies, gents and a unisex option in separate rooms means that everyone is catered for."

Earl Shilton Town Council said it was unable to comment at this time.