EAT RACE DISCRIMINATION / DIRECT
An ET dismissed complaints that the Claimant had been discriminated against on the grounds of race. It did not when doing so distinguish between direct discrimination, harassment, and victimisation, under each of which heads the claim had been advanced. Although no appeal was made as to the conclusions in respect of direct discrimination or harassment, the Claimant appealed on the basis that he had referred often during his employment to having been discriminated against, and said he had suffered detriment as a result of doing so. Since, however, he had not used the word ‘discriminated’ in any sense other than that he had been unfairly treated, never linked it to race or another characteristic protected by the 1976 or 2010 Acts, and when given the opportunity to say it was on the ground of race effectively explained it was not, there was no complaint which could be understood as one of race discrimination and hence his claim for victimisation had rightly been dismissed.
An argument that the Tribunal should not have dismissed Ealing Borough Council as a Respondent to the proceedings because it was potentially vicariously liable for acts of discrimination which had allegedly been committed by someone who had been a co-employee of the Claimant in the service of Ealing Homes at the time of the acts, but had subsequently become an employee of Ealing Council pursuant to a transfer of undertaking, such that the Council was liable as her successor employer, had not been advanced to the ET, and could not properly be entertained on appeal.
The appeals were dismissed.
Judges:
Langstaff P J
Citations:
[2013] UKEAT 0454 – 2012 – 1004
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Employment, Discrimination
Updated: 17 November 2022; Ref: scu.472857