Landmark ruling in battle for equal pension rights for same-sex couples

A retired employee of the chemicals company, Innospec has won his 11 year fight to ensure that his husband should receive the same benefits that would have been awarded to a wife of a heterosexual employee on his death.

Originally John Walker suffered a defeat in the Court of Appeal in 2015, when judges ruled that his claim failed because it applied to a period before gay civil partnerships were recognized by the law, but the five Supreme Court justices unanimously overturned that ruling, declaring that EU equal employment rights trumped English exceptionalism, and that on Mr. Walker’s death his partner will be entitled to a spouse’s pension.

Mr. Walker argued that having worked for the company for more than 20 years; he had made the same contributions to the pension scheme as his heterosexual colleagues so why would his partner not receive the same benefits as the wives of his male peers. It was submitted that Innospec’s refusal to provide a pensions to Mr. Walker’s husband in the event of his death “amounted to discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation which is contrary to the Framework Directive, regardless of Mr. Walker’s services or pension contribution”.

Mr. Walker wished to ensure that should he die before his husband that he would be adequately provided for. Before the ruling his husband stood to receive a pension of only a few hundred pounds a year but now will be entitled to the company spouse’s pension of over £45,000 a year.

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