Employees can claim for 'stigma loss'

The Court of Appeal in England and Wales has very recently held in Chagger v Abbey National Plc and another [2009] EWCA Civ 1202 that an employee may recover compensation for stigma suffered as a result of his having brought discrimination proceedings against a former employer, where this stigma can be shown to have affected his ability to obtain another job. Although this is an English case, it raises interesting issues not yet considered under Australian law.

Mr Chagger, a chartered accountant, was employed as a trading risk controller and was dismissed for redundancy by his employer, Abbey. He successfully brought a claim for unfair dismissal, race discrimination and breach of contract, and was awarded £2.8 million in compensation by an employment tribunal on the basis that he would not be able to obtain further employment in his chosen field. On appeal, the Employment Appeals Tribunal held that even though Mr Chagger had shown that he was unable to obtain a similar job because of the stigma connected with bringing proceedings (Mr Chagger had applied for 111 roles and been considered for more) it would be wrong to make Abbey...