Successful Judgment in Haynes v English Blackball Pool Federation

We are pleased to announce that our client, the English Blackball Pool Federation, has successfully defended the discrimination claim brought against it by the transgender player, Harriet Haynes. This is the first judgment to apply the Supreme Court’s decision in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, which was handed down a few days after the end of the trial.

Although the decision in FWS was sufficient to dispose of the claim, having heard expert evidence from Professor Formaggio and Dr Blair Hamilton for the Claimant and Dr David Alciatore and Dr Emma Hilton for the Defendants, the court also set out its conclusions in relation to the sport exception under section 195 of the Equality Act 2010 and the separate sex services exception under paragraph 28 of Schedule 3 to the Act. This is the first discrimination claim in which the sport exception has been considered.

The court concluded that pool is a ‘gender-affected activity’ and that excluding those born as male from the female category is necessary to secure fair competition. The court also concluded that this was a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Our client was represented at trial by the excellent Sarah Crowther KC and Sapan Maini-Thompson of Outer Temple Chambers.

A copy of the judgment can be found here.