In April 1996 the European Court of Justice ruled that it was contrary to the EU’s Equal Treatment Directive to dismiss an individual on the grounds of gender reassignment.
Case law clarified that this also protected trans people from sexual harassment in 1997.
In 1997, an Employment Appeal Tribunal determined that harassment on the grounds of gender reassignment was direct discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. The appeal related to a case initially brought against Chessington World of Adventure by a trans woman employed as a rides technician who had been subject to continuous and sustained harassment by colleagues over a period of three years because of her trans status. The industrial tribunal that heard the case in 1996 found in her favour, using the recent ruling in P v S Cornwall County Council. When the employer appealed against the decision, the decision of the original tribunal was upheld, providing important protection for trans people (Chessington World of Adventure Ltd v. X [1997] IRLR 556).
Case law was also developing to ensure that lesbians and gay men were protected from sexual harassment under some circumstances (eg. Smith v Gardner Merchant Ltd (CA 1998) IRLR 510).