Apportioning liability for discriminatory acts

In the light of a recent Court of Appeal decision, businesses should ensure their employees are fully aware of the potentially serious consequences connected with discrimination and harassment in the workplace. The decision confirmed that joint and several liability is the norm in discrimination cases, and that deviation from this principle requires a claimant to suffer indivisible damage from different tortfeasors.

This means that discriminating employees might find themselves liable for 100% of a colleague’s discrimination compensation where the employer has become insolvent. Unlike car drivers involved in an accident, individual employees will not have insurance to cover the possibility that the injured party may suffer financial and other loss running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

This checklist sets out the different types of discrimination that can occur within the workplace and highlights practical steps businesses can take to help avoid breaching discrimination and harassment law.