BL Cars Ltd v Brown: EAT 1983

A black employee of the defendant had been arrested and granted bail. The defendant feared that he would attempt to re-enter the plant under a false name. The Chief Security Officer issued instructions to the gates, to include a thorough check on the identity of every black employee trying to enter the premises. Some 28 people complained that this instruction subjected them to a detriment which contravened the 1976 Act. Some of these were employed by BL and some by contractors. The Commission for Racial Equality also issued a complaint that the instruction was unlawful. An Industrial Tribunal decided as a preliminary point that the mere issue of a written instruction could occasion detriment to individual employees.
Held: The employer’s appeal failed.

Citations:

[1983] ICR 143

Statutes:

Race Reltins Act 1976

Cited by:

CitedDe Souza v Automobile Association CA 19-Dec-1985
The claimant appealed against a finding that there had been no race discrimation in her case. She had overheard a manager refer to her as ‘the wog’. She said that this was sufficient to mean that she suffered a detriment. The employer replied that . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Discrimination

Updated: 15 May 2022; Ref: scu.270154