In NH v Associazione Avvocatura per i diritti LGBTI, the European Court of Justice held that a senior lawyer's comments on a radio programme that he would not wish to recruit homosexual people fell within the scope of the Equal Treatment Framework Directive (2000/78/EC) even though his firm was not recruiting, or planning to recruit, at the time.
In Badara v Pulse Healthcare Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the employer should not have relied solely on negative Home Office checks when it dismissed the employee for failing to provide right to work documentation.
In R (on the application of P) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and other appeals, the Supreme Court held that the criminal record checks rule requiring disclosure where a person has more than one conviction, regardless of the circumstances of the offences, is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
In Matier v Spring & Airbrake Ireland Ltd, a Northern Ireland industrial tribunal awarded £3,155 for age discrimination to a jobseeker who was told that a prospective employer was "looking for a younger person".
In James v Coedffranc Community Council, an employment tribunal upheld an unsuccessful job applicant's age discrimination claim after an interviewer said "I've just noticed how old you are" and jotted down older candidates' ages on interview notes.
In Francis-McGann v West Atlantic UK Ltd, the employment tribunal ordered a pilot to repay £4,725 in training costs after it emerged that he provided a fake reference using the name of a character from Star Wars.
In R (on the application of AR) v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police and another, the Supreme Court held that, although the disclosure of the appellant's acquittal for rape was an interference with his human rights, it was justified. However, the Court expressed concern at the lack of guidance for employers on how to deal with disclosures of serious criminal charges that result in acquittals.
In South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust v Lee and others, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that a decision to withdraw a job offer that was at least partially influenced by a reference that focused on the applicant's sickness absence levels was discriminatory.
In Government Legal Service v Brookes [2017] IRLR 780 EAT, the EAT held that an applicant for a solicitors' training scheme who has Asperger's syndrome suffered unlawful disability discrimination when she was required to sit a test in a multiple choice format in the recruitment process.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that a requirement for a job applicant with Asperger's syndrome to complete an online multiple-choice psychometric test was indirectly discriminatory. The EAT also upheld claims for discrimination arising from disability and failure to make reasonable adjustments.