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Employment Law Solicitors - Race Discrimination Claims
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Employment Law Solicitors:
Race Discrimination Claims
The Race Relations Act 1976 (RRA) prohibits
discrimination on racial grounds. ‘Racial grounds’
is defined to include race, colour, nationality or
ethnic or national origins and there are four main
types of racial discrimination: direct, indirect,
victimisation and harassment.
Direct Race Discrimination
This occurs when a person has been treated less favourably
on racial grounds than others in similar circumstances. The
test of whether there has been less favourable treatment is
comparative. There may be a specific individual who can be a
comparator, but where there is no comparator the complainant
can use a hypothetical one.
Indirect Race Discrimination
There are two types of indirect racial discrimination. The
first relates to colour or nationality and emanates from the
original Race Relations Act definition. The second pertains
to race, ethnic or national origin, and was brought in by
the Race Relations Act (Amendment) Regulations 2003.
Indirect Race Discrimination On The Grounds Of Colour Or
Nationality
This is where an seemingly non-discriminatory stipulation is
applied to all but can only be met by a proportionately
smaller number of people from a particular racial group,
where it is to the detriment of an individual from that
group due to the fact that they cannot comply, and the said
stipulation cannot be justified on non-racial grounds. An
example of this type of discrimination is a rule that
employees cannot wear veils over their face as it could, for
example, exclude Muslim women who wear them. Employers who
impose such a rule would have to justify it on non-racial
grounds.
Indirect Race Discrimination On The Grounds Of Race,
Ethnic Or National Origin
This is where a seemingly non-discriminatory requirement or
procedure applied equally to all disadvantages a particular
group of people of the same race or ethnic or national
origin is comparison with others, places an individual of
the affected group at a disadvantage, and the said
requirement or procedure cannot be justified as a
proportionate way of accomplishing a valid objective.
Victimisation
It is unlawful to treat a person less favourably because
they have made allegations or brought proceedings under the
RRA, or because they have helped another person to do so.
Harassment
Harassment as set out in the Race Relations Act (Amendment)
Regulations 2003 applies only to discrimination on
grounds of race or ethnic or national origins. The
Regulations define such harassment as unwanted conduct which
violates the victims dignity or which creates an
intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive
environment for them. The Regulations however do not cover
harassment relating to colour or nationality. This kind of
harassment is defined as less favourable treatment and may
thus constitute direct race discrimination.
Bringing A Race Discrimination Claim
A tribunal claim must be made within three months of the
discriminatory act (or last discriminatory act) complained
of. Before bringing the claim, the employee must set out
their grievance in writing to their employer and wait 28
days before commencing their tribunal claim. Unlike in
unfair dismissal claims, employees do not have to have had
at least 1 years continuous service with the employer to be
entitled to bring the claim. Should the employees claim be
successful, the tribunal can make recommendations and award
compensation. Should the employer fail to comply with
recommendations made by the tribunal for action to reduce
discrimination without reasonable justification, the
tribunal can award additional compensation on top of what it
may have already awarded. Compensation awards in
discrimination cases are unlimited and unlike in unfair
dismissal cases, there is no such thing as a 'basic' or
'compensatory' award. Instead, the award normally comprises
the following:-
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Injury to Feelings: Comprise separate awards for
hurt feelings, aggravated damages, and injury to health.
The criteria for assessing compensation for hurt
feelings were set out by the Court of Appeal in the case
of Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire (No.2)
(2003). In that case, the Court stated that there should
be a top band of between £15,000.00 and £25,000.00 for
the most serious cases, a middle band of between
£5,000.00 and £15,000.00 for serious cases, and awards
of between £500.00 and £5,000.00 for less serious and
one-off cases. The Court stated that awards of less than
£500.00 should be avoided. An injury to health claim can
be incorporated into the injury to feelings claim, but
should there be a separate award for it, the tribunal
has to ensure that there is no element of duplication.
Finally, aggravated damages can also be awarded as part
of the injury to feelings claim, although awards for
this element do not usually exceed £5,000.00 and are
only awarded should the employers conduct have been
especially cruel and malicious.
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Loss of Earnings: Normally makes up the bulk of
the claim and includes both actual and future loss of
earnings. Future loss can be extensive where psychiatric
injury has been sustained as a result of the
discrimination and makes it difficult for the employee
to obtain new and appropriate employment.
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Injury to Health (Personal Injury): Is most
commonly for psychiatric injury. Nevertheless, where a
claim for personal injury is included, the employee
loses the right to bring a claim in the civil courts
for it.
-
Ancillary Losses: These can be for items such as
the cost of looking for alternative employment and
pension loss.
-
Interest: Interest on the compensation award can
be claimed
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The Employment Law
Solicitors, the brand, is part of Antrobus
Solicitors, a firm regulated by the Solicitors
Regulation Authority. Details of the
professional rules which regulate solicitors can
be found at the following website address:
http://www.rules.sra.org.uk
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