Gill and Coote v El Vino Co Ltd

Gill and Coote v El Vino Co Ltd
El Vino, pictured in 2009
Court	Court of Appeal
Decided	8 November 1982
Case history
Appealed from	Mayor's and City of London Court (decided 3 July 1981)
Court membership
Judges sitting	Edward Eveleigh, Hugh Griffiths and Sir Roger Ormrod
Keywords
Sex discrimination

Gill and Coote v El Vino Co Ltd was a case heard in the Court of Appeal in 1982. It concerned a policy in the El Vino wine bar in Fleet Street, London, of not serving women at the bar and instead requiring them to order by table service in a back room. A number of women had previously unsuccessfully brought legal actions against the bar under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.

Solicitor Tess Gill and journalist Anna Coote instigated legal action against El Vino at the Mayor's and City of London Court in 1981. The case was supported by the National Council for Civil Liberties and the Equal Opportunities Commission. An attempt to secure an injunction to stop the policy before the court case failed. The case was found against the women on 3 July by Judge Ranking who decided that the women had not suffered any unfavourable treatment.

The case was appealed and was heard in November 1982. El Vino was represented by Eldred Tabachnik QC who argued that the policy was beneficial to women, protecting them from "pushing and jostling" at the bar, and preventing embarrassing situations where staff may need to reach between their legs to reach wine bottles. The judges, Lord Justices Edward Eveleigh, Hugh Griffiths and Sir Roger Ormrod, found in favour of Gill and Coote. They noted that the policy denied women a choice of where to be served and prevented them from mixing with men in the bar where they might pick up gossip from other journalists and lawyers. The case has been described as "one of the most celebrated and publicised sex discrimination proceedings" and demonstrated the effectiveness of the Sex Discrimination Act.