Civil liberties: when is it lawful to discriminate?

When must a civil partner be treated equally in respect to pension benefits, and when is it lawful to discriminate? That is the question. Or at least that was the question that troubled the employment tribunal in the recent case of Walker v Innospec Limited and others. It is not often the employment tribunal comes up with a  decision that could have far-reaching implications for UK defined benefit (DB) pension schemes, but this case certainly has that potential. The case Walker, a retired member of the Innospec DB pension scheme brought a claim against the sponsoring employer and tr...