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Sex discrimination
In Shamoon v Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the House of Lords holds that in cases where a complainant alleges direct sex discrimination, the statutory comparison requires that all the circumstances that are relevant to the way the complainant was treated are the same as, or not materially different from, the circumstances of the comparator.
In Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police (No.2), the Court of Appeal holds that an employment tribunal was entitled to award £165,000 for future loss of earnings to a probationer police constable who suffered sex discrimination, culminating in her dismissal at the age of 30, two years after her appointment.
In Hendricks v The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, the Court of Appeal holds that an employment tribunal did not err in law in deciding that it had jurisdiction to hear a police officer's race and sex discrimination complaints, notwithstanding that none of the numerous alleged incidents of discriminatory treatment complained of occurred in the three-month period preceding the presentation of her originating application.
In Smith v Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd t/a Reliance Monitoring Services [2002] ET/1400993/02, an employment tribunal found that the job of tagging offenders did not need to be held by a woman to preserve decency or privacy of female offenders, so there was no genuine occupational qualification defence to a claim of sex discrimination.
In Zaiwalla & Co and another v Walia the EAT holds that an employment tribunal which upheld an employee's complaint of sex discrimination was entitled to award aggravated damages of £7,500 to reflect the fact that the employer conducted its defence of the tribunal proceedings in a manner deliberately designed to be intimidatory and threatening, and to cause the maximum distress to the employee.
This week's case roundup from Eversheds, covering company car policy and sex discrimination.
In Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police v Vento, the EAT upholds an appeal against an employment tribunal's manifestly excessive awards of £165,000 for future loss of earnings, and £65,000 for injury to feelings (which included £15,000 aggravated damages) to a former probationer police officer who suffered unlawful sex discrimination.
In Coker and Osamor v The Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chancellor's Department, the Court of Appeal holds that where an appointment is made from a close circle of family or friends, this will rarely constitute indirect discrimination as the vast majority of the relevant pool of potential candidates will be excluded. It will therefore not be possible to show that the requirement of personal knowledge has the disproportionate impact necessary to found a discrimination claim.
In Chief Constable of Avon & Somerset Constabulary v Chew, the EAT upholds an employment tribunal's decision that a female police officer who wanted to work part time suffered indirect sex discrimination because her childcare commitments meant she could not comply with a requirement that part-timers must work shifts in accordance with their department's duty roster patterns.
The Court of Appeal gives important guidance on how far tribunals need to go in exploring the circumstances of a claim. Plus cases on protected disclosure, redundancy selection, discrimination by an agent, working time exemptions and constructive dismissal.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to sex discrimination.