EAT Sex Discrimination – Inferring discrimination – Injury to feelings – Other losses
Woman on a career break (from which she could return at any time on short notice) was indirectly discriminated against when her employer, which was in need of reductions in headcount and cost, offered generous early retirement schemes to all its staff but then decided without any notice to eliminate from consideration those on a career break who were not due to return before a set date, and then compounded this by telling her she was still be considered for the scheme when she was not, and by wrongly rejecting her grievance. At an appeal in respect of remedy, an award of andpound;12,000 for injury to feelings was upheld (the Claimant though a valued and long serving employee was unhappy at work and had felt bullied), but held there was no sufficient basis for one of andpound;5000 in respect of aggravated damages. The Tribunal was held entitled to award as damages the full payment she would have received if accepted for the scheme, since the evidence was that she would have been if she had not been excluded from consideration by the discriminatory act.
Langstaff P J
[2013] UKEAT 0435 – 11 – 0602
Bailii
England and Wales
Employment, Discrimination, Damages
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.472838