Equal Opportunities – The benefits for an employer in getting it right

A recent Employment Tribunal decision has found in favour of two Claimants in their discrimination claims against both their employer, Capita, and their Line Manager. Interestingly, Capita was cleared of all liability relating to the Line Manager’s racial comments and harassment but the Line Manager himself was found personally liable and ordered to pay both Claimants compensation.

Generally, an employer is vicariously liable for the discriminatory acts of their employees where such acts are carried out in the “course of their employment” unless the employer is able to rely on the “statutory defence”.

In this case, Capita were able to rely on the statutory defence in that they had taken all reasonable steps to prevent the Line Manager from doing the alleged acts of discrimination. This is not an easy hurdle for any employer to overcome and an Employment Tribunal will have regard to the following approach:

• Did the employer take any reasonable steps at all to prevent the employee from committing the acts?
• Were there any further reasonable steps that the employer could have taken?

To potentially be able to successfully rely on the statutory defence, the following are considered to be reasonable steps:

• Implementing an Equal Opportunities Policy and regularly reviewing the same to ensure it is kept up to date;
• Ensuring all employees are aware of the Equal Opportunities Policy and the consequences should they contravene it;
• Providing equal opportunities training to employees as part of their induction and refresher courses during their employment; and
• Ensuring employee complaints are dealt with and appropriate action is taken against the perpetrators.

The Capita case serves as good reminder of the importance of carrying out staff training and having policies/procedures in place to deter employees from acting in a manner that breaches equality laws or is inconsistent with your business’s values and culture.

For specialist advice on equal opportunity training and policies or on any other employment law matter, please contact our Coventry based Employment Law Solicitors:

Email: Lianne@askewslegal.co / Jake@askewslegal.co

Askews Legal LLP, 5 The Quadrant, Coventry, CV1 2EL
Tel: 024 7623 1000