Glosa do wyroku Sądu Apelacyjnego w Gdańsku z 14 grudnia 2017 r., sygn. akt I ACa 187/17
A commentary to the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Gdańsk of 14 December 2017, ref. no. I ACa 187/17

Summary/Abstract: In its judgment of 14 December 2017 (ref. no. I Aca 187/17), the Court of Appeal in Gdańsk adjudicated that suggesting to a nursing mother that she shall take a seat other than the one chosen by her as the place to have a meal with her whole family in a restaurant is a manifestation of a less favourable treatment in comparison to other customers. This is a manifestation of unequal treatment on the basis of sex, as breastfeeding is an attribute of the female sex and is inseparable from motherhood. Extensive reflections presented in the statement of reasons (resentencing entirely the decision of the court of first instance) gave impulse to a deepened, multi-aspect legal analysis of direct discrimination on the basis of sex. The analysis is completed with the review of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and national common courts as regards all manifestations of infringement of the principle of equal treatment of women and men in their access to publicly offered services and goods. In the conclusion it is pointed that in modern Europe there is a universal acceptance for behaviour based on categorizing persons due to their predominant features. The commented judgment is at the same time progressive and ground-breaking, therefore it deserves particular reflection, as it sanctions unjustified discrimination of a woman nursing a child at a restaurant, being in line with the antidiscrimination policy of the European Union.

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