Stuart Goosey - A Pluralist Theory of Age Discrimination

A PLURALIST THEORY OF AGE DISCRIMINATION

This book provides a comprehensive theory of age discrimination that can guide the direct and indirect age discrimination provisions of the Equality Act 2010. The Act holds that unequal treatment on the grounds of age, and measures that are on their face age-neutral but have the effect of disadvantaging particular age groups, are lawful only if the treatment can be shown either to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim or if the treatment fits into a specifically prescribed exception. In this way, the proportionality test distinguishes justified and unjustified age-differential treatment with only the former legally permissible.

This book outlines and defends a pluralist theory of age discrimination that assists in making the distinction between justified and unjustified age-differential treatment. The theory identifies the principles that explain when and why age-differential treatment wrongs people and the principles that can justify this treatment. It is a pluralist theory because it recognises that age-differential treatment can wrong people for a number of different, overlapping reasons, and these different reasons should inform how we apply age discrimination law. The pluralist approach to age discrimination theory can improve legal reasoning in age discrimination cases by articulating the relevant principles and competing interests that are at stake in age discrimination claims.

In constructing the theory, the book adopts the reflective equilibrium method. This requires that we examine our initial moral beliefs about age discrimination by seeking coherence with beliefs we have about similar moral and philosophical issues and revising the initial beliefs as a result of challenges to them. In applying this method, the book identifies the following five principles to form a pluralist theory of age discrimination: equality of opportunity, social equality, respect, autonomy and efficiency.

A Pluralist Theory of Age
Discrimination

Stuart Goosey

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Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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First published in Great Britain 2020

Copyright Stuart Goosey, 2020

Stuart Goosey has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988 to be identified as Author of this work.

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open-government-licence/version/3) except where otherwise stated.

All Eur-lex material used in the work is European Union,
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/, 19982020.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data

Names: Goosey, Stuart, author.

Title: A pluralist theory of age discrimination / Stuart Goosey.

Description: Oxford, UK ; New York, NY : Hart Publishing, an imprint of
Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020038507 (print) | LCCN 2020038508 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781509933761 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509944071 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781509933778 (Epub) | ISBN 9781509933785 (pdf)

Subjects: LCSH: Age discriminationLaw and legislation. | Equality before the law. | Ageism.

Classification: LCC K3242 .G66 2020 (print) | LCC K3242 (ebook) | DDC 342.08/77dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020038507

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020038508

ISBN:HB:978-1-50993-376-1

ePDF:978-1-50993-378-5

ePub:978-1-50993-377-8

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This book develops and revises my PhD manuscript. I would like to thank Lizzie Barmes, Kate Malleson and Richard Ashcroft for their advice, guidance and support in supervising my PhD project. I would also like to thank my PhD examiners, Jo Wolff and Colm OCinneide, for their detailed and thoughtful comments on the manuscript. This book responds to their comments, and, consequently, this books argument is more thorough and robust than the original PhD manuscript.

I developed the idea for a research project on age discrimination law after attending Sandra Fredman and Tarunabh Khaitans seminars on comparative equality law at the University of Oxford, which included discussions on why people tend to have different moral intuitions about the wrongness of age discrimination vis--vis race discrimination and sex discrimination.

I also offer special thanks to Aaron Baker, who, after meeting me for the first time at Durham Law School, read my PhD manuscript and encouraged me to submit a book proposal on the topic to Hart Publishing. Thanks to the Durham Law School students who participated in my seminars on age discrimination law, where many of the ideas in this book were discussed and debated.

My good friend, Samuel Brewer, and my partner, Danyu Tong, have offered a great deal of support to me, including offering encouragement and engaging in discussions on this books themes.

Finally, thanks to London North Eastern Railway. I had written much of this book in the quiet carriages of their trains and I used their free Wi-Fi to conduct research for this book.

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