Careless Talk Costs Money - Office Banter Can Lead To A Ceiling-less Discrimination Claims

• Published date: 08 September 2021
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Discrimination, Disability & Sexual Harassment, Employee Rights/ Labour Relations
• Law Firm: Giambrone & Partners
• Author: Ms Daniel Theron

Discrimination is the one aspect of employment law that employers should make every effort to steer clear of. The Equality Act 2010 enshrines a range of protected characteristics relating to discrimination in employment law. Claims made by employees under the Act do not have a financial cap for the awards that can be granted to an individual whose claim has been acknowledged as valid by the Employment Tribunal. Therefore, should the Tribunal so choose, the amount of compensation awarded has the potential to be painfully high and seriously impact on the business.

Statistics from the Ministry of Justice suggest age discrimination claims are the fastest rising complaint, with 3,668 complaints of age discrimination made to employment tribunals in 2020. Other discrimination claims such as disability discrimination coming a close second and sexual orientation following close behind. The largest awards for discrimination run into six figures and should be an issue that employers take seriously.

Daniel Theron, a partner, commented "claims can arise from comments made about a person in the workplace, even if said in jest, they can be regarded as discriminatory and employers and HR professionals should regularly remind their workforce that personal remarks made between colleagues have the potential to have a financially adverse consequence for their employer"

It should not be assumed that a colleague will be a "good sport" when some aspect of their conduct or appearance is commented on, whether or not it is intended to be light-hearted. Mrs. Crompton, who worked for Eden Private Staff, found herself a victim of age discrimination when her manager, Ms. Burridge, subjected her to comments suggesting that she suffered from Alzheimer's disease and referred to her defective memory. If Mrs. Crompton forgot something Ms. Burridge would say "is it Alzheimer's again?"

After an interview with two managers who pointed out to Mrs. Crompton that there were errors in outgoing letters she was asked to check her work more carefully. She informed the managers that Ms. Burridge's "anger and impatience" towards her made her uncomfortable and made it difficult for her to ask for help. Mrs. Crompton's performance continued to be of concern. She was signed off sick due to stress and was dismissed. Following her dismissal, Mrs. Crompton submitted a grievance letter in which she challenged the reason for her dismissal contesting the suggestion that performance issues were the reason and...