The case had already been heard by two Employment Tribunals and one appeal tribunal. Ms X, as she was known, was supported in her appeal by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Lord Justice Elias, in his judgment, rejected the argument that non-discrimination was so fundamental to EU law that it should be inferred that the legislation applied to volunteers:"The logic of that argument is that the principle should apply to all fields of human activity, but no-one suggests that this is the case".

The decision is seen as an important victory for charities and other not-for-profit organisations who rely upon volunteers. In these difficult times, organisations are ill-equipped to carry the additional financial burden which anti-discrimination rights for volunteers would place upon them. It now seems that, by having only informal agreements, a charity can avoid the risk of a volunteer going to an employment tribunal. But the case has caused criticism of the CAB for (allegedly) appearing to treat people with a disability less fairly, and it would be a brave (or foolhardy) charity that would hide behind this case as justification for any discrimination simply because the volunteer had no contract.