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Race discrimination
In Allay (UK) Ltd v Gehlen, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the employer's diversity training was not sufficient to amount to a "reasonable steps" defence in a claim of racial harassment committed by one of its employees.
In Bessong v Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that the Equality Act 2010 cannot be interpreted to make an NHS trust vicariously liable for race discrimination for a patient's racially motivated attack on a mental-health nurse.
In Forbes v LHR Airport Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that an employer was not vicariously liable for racial harassment when an employee posted an image of a golliwog on her Facebook account.
In Base Childrenswear Ltd v Otshudi, the Employment Appeal Tribunal considered the level of race discrimination compensation for an employee whose appeal against her dismissal and post-dismissal grievance were ignored.
In Georges v Pobl Group Ltd, an employment tribunal upheld a black employee's harassment claim after she attended diversity training at which the trainer wrote racially offensive terms on a flipchart and staff were encouraged to shout out the most offensive words that they could come up with.
In Evans v Xactly Corporation Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld an employment tribunal's ruling that calling a salesperson a "fat ginger pikey" in a working environment with a culture of "jibing and teasing"; was not harassment under the Equality Act 2010.
In Saad v Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that the primary question, when deciding if an employee acted in bad faith, is whether or not the employee acted honestly in making the discrimination allegation, not the employee's ulterior purpose.
In Bakkali v Greater Manchester Buses (South) Ltd t/a Stage Coach Manchester, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that asking a Muslim employee whether or not he supported IS did not amount to harassment because, given the context, the offending comment was not "related to" his religious belief or race.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that the employer subjected the claimant to direct race discrimination. The employer withdrew its offer to the claimant of a posting abroad because of a psychological assessment that warned the claimant could suffer stress as a result of racial discrimination.
The Court of Appeal has held that the rules on the burden of proof in discrimination claims under the Equality Act 2010 do not differ from the rules under the previous discrimination legislation, and that the initial burden remains on the claimant.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to race discrimination.