This page is general information, not legal advice. Discrimination claims have strict, short deadlines. If any of this sounds like your situation, contact ACAS or an employment solicitor now, not after payday.
The law protects you too
The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to treat someone worse because of a protected characteristic — and race and sex are protected characteristics for everyone. A white man refused a job or promotion because of his race or sex is discriminated against in exactly the same legal sense as anyone else. That is not an opinion; it is how Matthew Furlong won against Cheshire Police and how three officers won against Thames Valley Police.
Lawful “positive action” vs unlawful positive discrimination
Lawful (positive action): encouraging applications from under-represented groups, outreach events, mentoring, training schemes — and, under section 159, choosing the under-represented candidate only in a genuine tie between candidates who are individually assessed as equally qualified.
Unlawful (positive discrimination): quotas; reserving roles; “deeming” whole pools of candidates equally qualified so a tie-break can be applied (that’s Furlong); promotions handed out without competition to improve the numbers (that’s Thames Valley); holding candidates back so target groups get in first (that’s the RAF inquiry’s finding).
The label the employer uses does not matter. The RAF called its scheme positive action. The inquiry called it unlawful.
If it happens to you
- Write everything down, immediately. Dates, times, exact words, who was present. Contemporaneous notes carry real weight at tribunal.
- Keep the paper trail. Job adverts, emails, scoring sheets, rejection letters, screenshots of schemes that mention protected characteristics. Forward nothing confidential to personal accounts unlawfully — but keep what you legitimately have.
- Ask questions in writing. You are entitled to ask why you were unsuccessful and how the decision was made. Polite, specific, written questions (“Was any positive action provision applied in this process?”) create disclosure obligations later.
- Raise it internally through the grievance procedure if you’re an employee — tribunals expect it and it can fix things faster.
- Start ACAS Early Conciliation. It’s free, it’s required before most tribunal claims, and it pauses the clock: acas.org.uk or 0300 123 1100.
- Mind the deadline. Tribunal claims must generally be started within three months less one day of the act you’re complaining about. Miss it and the strongest case in England usually dies.
- Get representation. Employment solicitors (many offer free first assessments or no-win-no-fee), your union rep if you have one, Citizens Advice, or a local law centre. There is no fee to bring an employment tribunal claim, and discrimination compensation is uncapped.
Write to your MP
Public pressure changes policy; letters get counted. Find your MP at members.parliament.uk, then adapt this:
Dear [Name] MP,
I’m writing as your constituent about equal treatment in recruitment and promotion. An official inquiry found the RAF unlawfully discriminated against male recruits to meet diversity targets (2023), and employment tribunals made findings of race discrimination against white applicants or officers in Furlong v Cheshire Police (2019) and against Thames Valley Police (2024).
I’d like to know: what steps are being taken to ensure public bodies apply section 159 of the Equality Act 2010 lawfully, and will you press for independent scrutiny of recruitment schemes that restrict when candidates may apply based on race?
The Commons Education Committee’s 2021 report “The forgotten” also remains largely unimplemented. What is being done for white working-class boys’ attainment in our constituency?
Yours sincerely, [Name, postcode]
If things are heavy
Half this site’s statistics are about what men carry in silence. If you’re struggling — not as a campaign matter, as a human one — call Samaritans, free, any time: 116 123, or CALM (0800 58 58 58, 5pm–midnight). Talk first. The tribunal can wait a day; you matter more than the campaign.