Transsexual wins right to female pension in employment law case

Posted 23/06/2010

A transsexual who was refused the right to claim her pension from the age of 60 has won her legal battle against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Christine Timbrell, 68, who was born Christopher but underwent a sex change in 2000, was told she was still seen as a woman under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 because she refused to divorce her wife.

As a result, she would have been unable to collect her pension until 65, the statutory age for men.

However, Ms Timbrell took the DWP to court, claiming that being forced to get a divorce would contravene her human rights and religious beliefs and that being denied her pension was a breach of employment law.

This week, Lord Justice Aikens at the Court of Appeal ruled that the government was violating equality laws and discriminating against her by refusing Ms Timbrell her rights as a woman.

Criticising the lack of legal framework in the UK for transsexuals, the judge ordered the DWP to pay Ms Timbrell five years’ worth of backdated pension payments.

According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Sex Discrimination Act contains protections for people who plan to undergo, are undergoing, or have undergone gender reassignment.