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Costs orders in discrimination claims

5 May 2025

The general rule in Employment Tribunals (ET) is that each party will bear their own costs. This is unlike the civil courts where the general rule is that the winning party’s costs are met by the losing party, subject to some exceptions and special rules. When you issue a claim in the ET you are […]

Sacking a Christian teacher over her Facebook posts was discriminatory holds the Court of Appeal.

12 February 2025

It has been a long time coming but the Court of Appeal has finally handed down the judgment in Higgs v Farmor’s School. Just by way of background, the Claimant was a Christian secondary school counsellor. She made Facebook posts where she criticised the teaching of sex education in primary schools. Her criticism was levelled at […]

A rise in Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism in the Workplace – a reminder of the duties of employers

24 January 2025

A report published in October 2024 set out some concerning findings regarding the impact of the Israel-Palestine conflict in the workplace. Pearn Kandola, an organisation dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, surveyed over 1000 Muslim and Jewish UK employees regarding their experiences of discrimination at work since the latest iteration of the […]

Am I protected from discrimination before my job starts? 

17 January 2025

Yes, and this protection begins from the moment you apply for a job. In fact, job advertisements themselves can be discriminatory in the sense of excluding people with a protected characteristic.   The case Mr F Ngole v Touchstone Leeds, before the Employment Tribunal, is a good example of how this protection applies.  Mr Ngole is […]

The differences between direct and indirect discrimination 

6 January 2025

Direct discrimination occurs when an employer or service provider treats a person with a protected characteristic (for example, based on their sex, gender, or age) less favourably because of their protected characteristic. Importantly, direct discrimination cannot be justified by an employer or service provider, except in cases of age discrimination where the decision may be justified […]

Litigant in person’s discrimination claim wrongly struck out 

11 December 2024

In Miss Wangtian Xie v E’quipe Japan Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has again looked at the question of when it may be reasonable for an Employment Tribunal (ET) to strike out a discrimination claim made by a litigant in person because it has no reasonable prospects of success. The answer is – in very […]

Update – Discrimination Arising From Disability 

16 October 2024

In the case of South Gloucestershire Council v Ms Pavandeep Hundal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered an Employment Tribunal’s (ET) decision on whether Ms Hundal’s contract was terminated for a discriminatory reason.  Ms Hundal started this work on a fixed term contract, but it was expected she would become a permanent employee.  There were […]

Positive Action or Positive Discrimination

30 September 2024

When can a worker be given an advantage because of their protected characteristic? Generally, it is unlawful discrimination for an employer to treat a worker differently than others because of that worker’s protected characteristic. This would in most circumstances amount to direct discrimination in breach section 13 of the Equality Act 2010 (the Act). However, […]

Disability discrimination – Royal Mail Group

16 September 2024

Making reasonable adjustments is the cornerstone of the disability provisions of the Equality Act 2010. Section 20 of the Act sets out how this duty applies. The Equality and Human Rights Commission Statutory Code on Employment is especially useful on explaining how this works in practice. Chapter 6 explains how the law works and gives […]