Pereira De Souza v Vinci Construction UK Ltd: EAT 20 Mar 2015

EAT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION – Compensation
At a remedy hearing the Employment Tribunal awarded compensation to the Claimant for injury to feelings and personal injuries in a claim for discrimination on the grounds of disability. The Employment Tribunal determined that the Claimant should receive an award of andpound;9,000 in respect of injury to feelings and andpound;3,000 in respect of the personal injury, which was to be subject to the 10% increase directed by the Court of Appeal Simmons v Castle [2012] EWCA Civ 1039, [2013] 1 All ER 334. The Employment Tribunal did not consider it appropriate to make such an increase in respect of the injury to feelings the Claimant appealed on the basis that the 10% uplift should have applied tot the compensation for injury to feelings. The Respondent cross-appealed on the basis that the uplift had no application at all to awards for compensation in the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
The Employment Tribunal held that the decision in Simmons v Castle to apply a 10% uplift for compensation was confined to civil proceedings and did not apply to claims in the Employment Tribunal. The uplift was designed to compensate litigants in actions who would lose the right to recover as part of their costs, if successful, any success fee payable to their legal representatives and the cost of After the Event Insurance Premiums which rights were abrogated by Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; Sash Windows Workshop v King (UKEAT/0057 and 0058/14) and Cadogan Hotels v Ozog UKEAT/0001/14 not followed.
Appeal dismissed; cross appeal allowed.

Serota QC HHJ
[2015] UKEAT 0328 – 14 – 2003, [2015] IRLR 536
Bailii
England and Wales

Employment

Updated: 01 January 2022; Ref: scu.549571