The Equality Act 2010 protects individuals within employment against sex discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation. It applies to men and women, although the majority of claims are brought by women. The Act also protects job applicants.
It is unlawful for an employer to:
It is also unlawful for an employer to treat women less favourably for a reason relating to pregnancy or maternity leave. So, for example, if an employer withdraws a job offer made to a female job applicant upon learning that she is pregnant that will give rise to a claim for unlawful discrimination. We have been involved in a case in which a job applicant was awarded in excess of £35,000 when the job offer was withdrawn after she notified the employer that she was pregnant.
We regularly advise and represent clients in claims for unlawful sex discrimination. An employment tribunal can award compensation for injury to feelings and also for loss of earnings. There is no upper limit on the amount of compensation that may be awarded by an employment tribunal for unlawful sex discrimination. The amount of compensation ordered or that we are able to negotiate for you will depend upon whether you are still employed, whether you have secured new employment and whether the incident relied upon was an isolated incident or one of a series of incidents. Please click here for examples of cases and compensation awarded. Most employment tribunal cases settle before they reach the tribunal.
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