Across UK organisations, equality law compliance is still too often treated as an HR responsibility — something handled through policies, training, and, in the public sector, Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) and annual Equality Report.
But current high-profile tribunal cases are showing just how risky that assumption can be.
When Equality Risks Are Missed
Two current and ongoing Employment Tribunal proceedings — the Darlington Nurses case and Sandie Peggie v Fife NHS Board — highlight what happens when equality law risks are not properly identified or escalated, before problems come to pass.
The Darlington Nurses Case
Seven nurses are suing County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust for sexual harassment and discrimination, challenging its policy allowing a trans colleague (born male, identifies as female) to use the women’s changing rooms at Darlington Memorial Hospital. The hearing is ongoing, and one can follow the hearing via the Tribunal Tweets postings on X.
Sandie Peggie v Fife NHS Board
An A&E nurse, Sandie Peggie, is suing NHS Fife and a transgender colleague, Dr. Beth Upton, for sexual harassment and belief discrimination. Peggie was suspended and investigated after objecting to sharing a female changing room with Upton, whom she believes is male. The tribunal is ongoing.
As of September 31, 2025, the legal costs for the ongoing Employment Tribunal case involving NHS Fife have reached £320,436.31. These costs are for the ongoing tribunal case, with NHS Fife’s direct financial liability limited to the first £25,000, while the remaining costs are covered by the taxpayer funded Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme (CNORIS).
In neither case, has there been any substantive evidence presented that the underlying policies were considered adequately from a risk perspective. Both cases demonstrate that equality compliance in policy making, when handled only by HR, can become procedural, a “tick-box” exercise, rather than a true assessment of organisational risk.
It would be an interesting exercise to consider some of the recent successful discrimination claims and go back in time to see if any policy consideration, at the time the policy was being considered, anticipated the scenarios highlighted by the subsequent cases. If not, why not?
Four Reasons Equality Compliance Should Sit in Risk Management
1️⃣ Legal and Financial Exposure
Equality Act 2010 breaches expose organisations to tribunal or court legal costs, settlements, and reputational harm — all of which are financial and operational risks, not just HR matters.
2️⃣ Corporate Governance Duty
Under the UK Corporate Governance Code and Companies Act 2006 (s.172), directors must ensure the company has systems to identify and manage significant risks. Equality law compliance clearly falls into that category.
3️⃣ Cross-Organisational Reach
Equality obligations extend beyond staff management: they affect service delivery, some disposal and management of premises, public communications, and digital accessibility. These areas are outside HR’s direct remit and need enterprise-level risk oversight.
4️⃣Assurance and Accountability
Risk management teams handle risk registers, controls, and audit reporting. Embedding equality law within this structure ensures governance, measurement, and board visibility preventing risks from remaining hidden in HR files.
Moving Equality From HR to Risk
To align with modern governance standards, organisations should:
• Include equality law compliance on the corporate risk register.
• Require board-level oversight through the Audit & Risk Committee.
• Train managers to recognise equality risks, not just policy breaches.
• Integrate HR, Legal, and Risk functions in EIA processes.
• Treat equality law like other regulatory frameworks (e.g. GDPR, Bribery Act)
Final Thought
Equality compliance is not just about fairness; it’s about risk prevention.
The cases now before the tribunals remind us that equality risk can translate into years of litigation, legal costs, and reputational harm when it’s left outside the organisation’s risk governance structure. It’s time to move equality law compliance out of HR’s remit and onto the corporate risk register; where it truly belongs.