The Stage

CIU sued for breaching sex discrimination laws

Published Tuesday 2 March 2004 at 14:00 by Jeremy Austin

Club and Institute Union officials are facing an employment tribunal action by a female club secretary claiming that the organisation’s denial of full membership rights to women is in breach of sex discrimination laws.

If the action by Jackie Medley, secretary of the Bishopthorpe club near York is upheld, it could force the organisation to change its controversial rule 12(e), which denies women full membership rights.

This week one legal expert warned that a tribunal defeat could lay the association open to claims for damages from other female members. Potential claimaints would even include thousands of women working on a voluntary basis for the CIU’s 2,702 individual clubs, who have been denied full rights at all CIU affiliated branches and voting rights at local and conference level.

The cost of defending so many tribunal cases is expected to prove prohibitive for the association, which has suffered a massive drop in member sites during the last decade. Collectively, its venues remain the largest clubland employer in the United Kingdom. This week Equity variety councillor and former vice president Annie Bright admitted a protracted legal battle would inevitably harm performers’ work prospects.

“It’s about time that these CIU clubs moved into the 21st century. It seems to me to a totally unnecessary waste of time and money - money that could be spent on providing better facilities for our members and more opportunities to spend on entertainment,” she said.

Ironically CIU reformers have received support from the executive for their repeated attempts to scrap the rule 12(e). At the most recent annual conference they failed by just 0.4% to secure the necessary 66.6% vote for their motion.

The man who proposed the motion, John Bacon, is Medley’s brother-in-law. He is supporting her action, which occurs just one month before the next CIU annual conference when the membership issue is once again expected to be debated.

Said Bacon: “The conference could be told that if we don’t change the rule now we could face a barrage of litigation. I believe that will be sufficient to convince the conference to vote that way,” he said. “Union executives would have a tremendous argument to say we have to change this law now.”

While case law from the seventies allows private members clubs the right to discriminate, Bacon believes that the CIU, as a representative body rather than a private club, is not permitted to include discriminatory clauses in its legislation. Should the tribunal agree, individual clubs would still have the right to deny women full membership rights but would then be doing so in contravention of the CIU - which would be forced to change its rules.

Last July, Medley failed in her initial bid to secure an employment tribunal. However, she was encouraged by the Leeds tribunal to begin an appeals process. This begins with a hearing in London on Wednesday, March 10. If the adjudicators decide Medley has a reasonable prospect of success, the appeal will begin back in Leeds later this year.

CIU general secretary Kevin Smyth believes Medley will not win a case should it go ahead but admitted a result in her favour would help the organisation. He said: “It would mean that women would be able to visit other clubs by purchasing a pass card. It would mean a sum of money would come into the CIU and would benefit us financially. The executive does believe in the moral argument but we have to support the constitution.”