Disability discrimination: Chain of causation not broken by second wrongful act
This report relates to 1 case(s)
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HM Prison Service v Beart (No.2) [2005] IRLR 171 EAT (1 other report)
Key points
In HM Prison Service v Beart, the EAT holds:
- Committing a second tort, in this case unfair dismissal following disability discrimination, does not allow the employer to escape liability for the first wrong. It would be very much against public policy, especially in cases of discrimination (on any ground) to allow those committing the statutory torts to escape liability by deliberately committing a second wrongful act.
- Further, the tribunal was correct to find that a vague offer of a possible job with a different government department made at the eleventh hour, did not enable it to say whether the employee would have taken it. Therefore, the tribunal had not acted in a perverse manner in ignoring it.