Equality, diversity and human rights
A "requirement or condition" applied by an employer does not have to constitute an absolute bar in order for it to be challenged as amounting to indirect sex discrimination, holds the EAT in Falkirk Council and others v Whyte and others.
In Halford v United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights holds that the Merseyside Police Authority violated the right to privacy of its assistant chief constable under the European Convention on Human Rights when it tapped her office telephone calls for the purposes of gathering information in order to defend a sex discrimination complaint she had initiated.
In Gillespie and others v Northern Health and Social Services Board and others (No.2) and Todd v Eastern Health and Social Services Board and another, the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal rules that contractual maternity pay is adequate in terms of European Community equal pay law, and does not "jeopardise the purpose of maternity leave", if it is at least equivalent to statutory sickness benefit.
In Barry v Midland Bank plc, the EAT holds that a woman bank employee was not indirectly discriminated against on the ground of her sex when the bank calculated her severance pay by reference to her part-time salary at the time of termination, notwithstanding that she had been employed full time for the first 11 years of her 13 years' service.
In R v Secretary of State for Employment ex parte Seymour-Smith and Perez (13 March 1997) EOR73A, the House of Lords refers questions to the European Court of Justice relating to whether the increase in the qualifying period for bringing a complaint of unfair dismissal from one to two years indirectly discriminated against women contrary to European Community law.
An industrial tribunal was entitled to conclude that the proportion of female train operators who could comply with a new roster (95.2%) was "considerably smaller" than the proportion of male train operators who could do so (100%), holds the EAT in London Underground Ltd v Edwards (No.2).
In HM Prison Service and others v Johnson, the EAT upholds an award of £21,000 for injury to feelings made by an industrial tribunal to a black prison officer who was subjected to a prolonged campaign of racial harassment and discrimination.
In Jones v Tower Boot Co Ltd, the Court of Appeal holds that the words "in the course of employment" in the Race Relations Act should be interpreted in the sense in which they are employed in everyday speech, and not restrictively by reference to the principles laid down by case law for establishing an employer's liability for the torts committed by an employee during the course of his or her employment.
In Bamber v Fuji International Finance Plc [1996] ET/28081/94, an employment tribunal found that Miss Bamber had been sexually discriminated against in relation to promotion. The award of compensation included £20,000 aggravated damages.
In Burton and Rhule v De Vere Hotels, the EAT holds that an employer "subjected" its employees to unlawful race discrimination when it allowed a speaker and guests at its hotel to abuse and harass them racially, in circumstances in which it had sufficient control over the discriminatory event so as to have been able to prevent or reduce the extent of it by applying good employment practice.
HR and legal information and guidance relating to equality, diversity and human rights.
Access our main resources on equality, diversity and human rights according to the type of information you need.