Sex discrimination: "Requirement or condition" need not be absolute bar

A "requirement or condition" applied by an employer does not have to constitute an absolute bar in order for it to be challenged as amounting to indirect sex discrimination, holds the EAT in Falkirk Council and others v Whyte and others [1997] IRLR 560. An industrial tribunal was therefore entitled to find that one of the factors applied by the employer as a criterion for selection for a managerial post - managerial training and supervisory experience - was a "requirement or condition", notwithstanding that it was stated to be a "desirable" qualification rather than an "absolute must" for the post, where it was clear that the qualification operated as the decisive factor in the selection process.