Story of Maya Forstater winning £100k for being victimised over tweet

Ms Maya Forstater, a tax expert who lost out on a job after saying people cannot change their biological sex has been awarded £100,000 compensation by an employment tribunal.

Ms Forstater was awarded the payout after the tribunal established that she experienced discrimination and victimisation at work.

Her contract at the Centre for Global Development (CGD) think tank, where she worked as a researcher, was not renewed in March 2019 after she said biological sex cannot be changed.

Her victory against the CGD comes after a high court judge ruled in June 2021 that her views on the “immutability of sex” are a “philosophical belief” protected by equality legislation and should be “tolerated in a pluralist society”.

In a judgment handed down on Friday, three judges at a London tribunal awarded Ms Forstater compensation of £91,500 and interest of £14,904.31.

She’s being compensated for “loss of earnings, injury to feelings and aggravated damages after the CGD did not renew her contract or visiting fellowship”.

Ms Forstater told The Times on Friday: “I’m happy it’s over and happy I got significant compensation. I think it sends a message to employers that this is discrimination like any other discrimination and that the compensation can be significant.

“Organisations are going to have to rethink all of their approach to equality and diversity to make sure they really are following the law and not just what activists tell them.”

The tribunal was told that Ms Forstater made  “inflammatory and objectionable” tweets about transgender people.

She was accused of opposing government proposals to reform the Gender Recognition Act to allow transgender people to be identified as the opposite sex.

However, employment Judge Andrew Glennie in July 2022 ruled that “complaints of direct discrimination because of belief are well founded”.