Grounding Unlawful Discrimination

Abstract

This paper explores the necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for the recognition of a ground of unlawful discrimination. It is important not only to have a coherent understanding of the currently enumerated grounds, but also to have a theoretical framework which can assist in enumerating new grounds through the open-ended ‘other status’ aspect of many legal frameworks. To that end, this paper argues that personal characteristics which are generally morally irrelevant, and which are socially salient in that they carry with them a prevalence of inequality-laden attitudes amount to necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for recognising a ground of unlawful discrimination. Other conditions such as immutability or the presence of relative group disadvantage will be assessed and dismissed as contingent but not necessary conditions.

Keywords: Discrimination, Equality,