The Court of Appeal has ruled that a heterosexual father of three who was subjected to persistent homophobic banter from his work colleagues can bring a claim of harassment under anti-discrimination laws.

Stephen English, who is married and has three children, worked as a salesman for a company in Portsmouth. He claimed that his work colleagues started calling him names and making homophobic comments to him after they found out that he had gone to a public school and that he lived in Brighton.

Mr English found the taunting so distressing that he felt he had to give up his job. He made a complaint of harassment under the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 but the tribunal rejected his claim because he was not actually gay and his work colleagues did not believe him to be gay even though they taunted him.

This meant he was not protected by the regulations because the taunting was not due to his sexual orientation but rather because his colleagues were reacting to stereotypical factors such as his having attended a public school and the fact that he lived in Brighton.

That ruling was upheld by the Employment Appeal Tribunal. However, it gave Mr English permission to take the case to the Court of Appeal so the law could be clarified. The Equality and Human Rights Commission supported Mr English throughout the case.

The Court of Appeal has now ruled in Mr English’s favour by a 2-1 majority. It said it did not matter whether or not Mr English was gay. The key point was that he had repeatedly been taunted as if he were gay. That was intended as an insult to his dignity and made his working environment intolerable.

Lord Justice Sedley said: “You cannot legislate against prejudice. You can set out in specified circumstances to stop people's lives being made a misery. The incessant mockery created a degrading and hostile environment and it did so on grounds of sexual orientation.”