Employment Discrimination Claims

Employees (including other workers and partners) are protected from certain forms of discrimination by others, including other staff and third parties such as customers.

Employers need to deal with any issues promptly, fairly and appropriately to avoid matters escalating into a work-place problem.  At Kingsley Napley, we understand how damaging discrimination claims can be and we will proactively support organisations and senior employees in this tricky area.
Our team of employment law solicitors has extensive experience in both defending and pursuing discrimination claims and we will give you objective, clear and pragmatic advice and support through all stages, including, if necessary, employment tribunal litigation.

Unlawful discrimination is when an employee is treated less favourably than another on the basis of their:

• Sex (including unequal pay if pregnancy and maternity);
• Race (including nationality, ethnicity and colour);
• Disability;
• Age;
• Religion or belief; 
• Sexual orientation;
• Marital status (including civil partnership);
• Gender reassignment

Discrimination can be:

• Direct; when an employee is treated less favourably than another purely on the basis of a protected characteristic; or
• Indirect, where an employer treats all employees the same but that treatment, policy or procedure has an adverse impact on one group of employees (e.g. a dress code).

As well as discrimination, an employee may also experience:

• Harassment, when an employee experiences behaviour which creates an “intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive [working] environment” for them;
• Victimisation, which is when an employee is treated less favourably by their employer because they have asserted their rights under discrimination legislation.

The Equality Act 2010, which largely came into force in October 2010, was intended to bring into line all the existing strands of discrimination legislation, whilst at the same time simplifying and strengthening it.  Our employment lawyers can advise your organisation on the impact of the Equality Act and review policies and procedures to ensure your organisation is fully compliant.

For more information please contact Richard Fox at rfox@kingsleynapley.co.uk.