The City’s financial institutions make regular appearances on the front pages of the tabloid press for all the wrong reasons, as well as the business pages for the part they play in the economy. The machismo culture long associated with financial services still finds expression in racist, sexist, and homophobic behaviour.
But people on the receiving end of discriminatory, harassing behaviour don’t have to grin and bear it. We’re one of the City’s top employment law specialists, with a well-deserved reputation for playing hardball for the individuals that seek our assistance. We’re experts in senior employee discrimination and are renowned for the results we get for our clients.
The Equality Act 2010, protects people from discrimination when applying for jobs, during their employment, and after they have left employment.
100% Success Rate in Contentious Cases for both Employees & Employers
We are a law firm specialising in discrimination and employment cases; get in contact with one of our employment lawyers on 0207 1674800
or contact us online for a callback.
Types of Employment Discrimination
The nine specific kinds of unlawful discrimination are as follows:
- Age discrimination
- Disability discrimination
- Marriage and civil partnership discrimination
- Pregnancy and maternity discrimination
- Race discrimination
- Religion and belief discrimination
- Gender discrimination
- Gender reassignment discrimination
- Sexual orientation discrimination
Workplace discrimination can take a number of forms including direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation. Under the Act, it is unlawful to discriminate against, harass or victimise someone because they have or are perceived to have a “protected characteristic” or are associated with someone who has a protected characteristic.
It is important to note that organisations must be made aware of any disability so they can make reasonable adjustments were necessary.
We have won many high-profile cases and secured substantial compensation for employees who have been victims of discrimination in the workplace.
What is the difference between Direct Discrimination and Indirect Discrimination?
Direct discrimination means treating someone less favourably than someone else because of a protected characteristic. An obvious example of this is not interviewing or appointing a woman of childbearing age, or someone from an ethnic minority. Very often people suspect they may have been passed over for these reasons, but don’t know how to go about proving it.
Indirect discrimination means putting in place a rule or policy that has more impact on someone with a protected characteristic than someone without one and is unlawful when it cannot be objectively justified. Examples of unlawful indirect discrimination include employers insisting that employees must not have beards, or must be of a minimum height or strength. Outlawing beards discriminate against certain religions, and rules about height and strength discriminate against women.
Direct discrimination by association means treating someone less favourably than another person because they are associated with a person who has a protected characteristic. An example of this is a business offering flexible working to all staff, but refusing a man’s request to work flexibly to care for his disabled child. If the manager’s decision is because the child is disabled, this is likely to be direct disability discrimination because of the man's association with his child.
Harassment & Victimisation
Harassment, such as bullying or sexual harassment, is unwanted behaviour related to a protected characteristic which has the purpose or effect of violating someone's dignity or which creates a hostile, degrading humiliating or offensive environment.
The important thing to note is that it is the effect that matters, not the purpose. Many workplace atmospheres condone sexist, racist, and homophobic banter, which are potential time-bombs if (more commonly) a woman, someone from an ethnic minority, or of a minority sexual preference takes offence at something that is said, regardless of whether it is directed at them.
Victimisation is treating someone unfavourably because they have taken some form of action under the Equality Act, for example, made a complaint under the Act or supported somebody who is doing so, such as appearing as a witness at an internal hearing or an Employment Tribunal.
Sex Discrimination & The Law
Sex Discrimination in the workplace is where an employer discriminates against an employee because of their sex. The protection under the law applies to all aspects of employment including recruitment, promotion and dismissal. The Equality Act 2010 protects employees; agency workers; contractors, freelancers and the self-employed; partners; directors; apprenticeships and even work experience persons.
Sex discrimination may be considered lawful in some circumstances; when gender is an occupational requirement or where a “positive action” policy has been adopted to address an unbalanced workplace, and where it can be shown a person of a particular gender was hired to balance the gender difference.
To illustrate, an example of direct sex discrimination would be when a male employee is promoted ahead of a female employee with more experience and qualifications.
An example of indirect sex discrimination would be when an employer adopts an early working hours policy which would apply to all employees. Although it may not seem discriminatory at first, because more women take responsibility for childcare; this will affect more women than men and the employer can leave themselves open to an indirect discrimination claim.
Such a claim can be justified, however, where the employer can show there was a “proportionate measure of achieving a legitimate aim”.
Compensation in Discrimination Claims
The total compensation you are entitled to be based on the financial losses you have surfed, injury to feelings and personal injury.
Financial losses are calculated similarly to unfair dismissal, and include loss of earnings and loss of benefits including bonuses, pension and private healthcare, along with ongoing losses with a new job such as further travel and uniform. It is a good idea to have your financial losses defined clearly from the initial date of discrimination until the date of the final hearing.
Injury to feelings is compensation for how the discrimination has impacted your emotions such as feeling hurt and upset. Using previous Court of Appeal guidelines, the below details bands of compensation for “injury to feeling” claims:
- Lower Band - £900 - £9,100
- Middle Band - £9,100 - £27,400
- Upper Band - £27,400 - £45,600
As “injury to feelings” is hard to quantify, it is important to include evidence in your witness statement including how upset you have been, the impact it has had on your life, along with statements from parties such as family and close friends.
Our Legal Fees
As an employment law firm, we are always transparent about the costs involved and offer a no-win-no-fee service for larger claims.
We have a fair hourly rate fee arrangement, with employment lawyers that are highly skilled and experienced. The charge is always agreed upon in advance, and payments can be staggered, invoiced monthly or, on occasion, at the end of a case.
In addition to this, we have many flexible funding options to suit every individual, including;
- Free initial consultation
- Fixed-fee work
- Capped charges
- Damages-Based Fee Agreements (known as “no win no fee”), provided you meet our criteria.
We always encourage clients to check their home and motor policy insurance as this can include legal expenses insurance coverage that can be used to fund an employment dispute claim.
Employment Discrimination Solicitors in London
We are a team of high-calibre employment law solicitors, recognised for our advocacy skills and excellent client satisfaction. We have helped many high-level executives by providing legal advice to help reach settlement agreements in a wide range of discrimination cases.
As experts in discrimination law, we specialise in handling complex and high-value claims on behalf of directors, executives, senior management and employees, particularly in the financial industry.
Give us a call to discuss how we can help you today at 020 7167 4800 or complete our online enquiry form and one of our team will be in touch shortly.
Contact our employment lawyers at 02071674800
