Keenan and Riches’BUSINESS LAW

1 Direct discrimination, which occurs where an em-
ployer or prospective employer treats a person less fav-
ourably than another on the stated grounds, as where an
employer refuses, on discriminatory grounds, to grant
a suitably qualified person an interview for a job. In
addition, the segregation of workers once in employ-
ment on discriminatory grounds is also unlawful direct
discrimination.
Examples are provided by the following cases.

The following fact situations are offered as further

examples of direct discrimination.

Part 4Business resources

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Colemanv Skyrail Oceanic Ltd(1981)

The claimant, Coleman, who was a female booking clerk

for Skyrail, a travel agency, was dismissed after she

married an employee of a rival agency. Skyrail feared

that there might be leaks of information about charter

flights and had assumed that her dismissal was not

unreasonable since the husband was the breadwinner.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal decided that the dis-

missal was reasonable on the basis that the husband

was the breadwinner. However, there was an appeal to

the Court of Appeal which decided that those provisions

of the Sex Discrimination Act which dealt with direct dis-

crimination and dismissal on grounds of sex had been

infringed. The assumptions that husbands were bread-

winners and wives were not were based on sex and were

discriminatory. The claimant’s injury to her feelings was

compensated by an award of £100 damages.

Comment. The claimant was also held to be unfairly

dismissed having received no warning that she would be

dismissed on marriage. The additional and discriminat-

ory reason regarding the breadwinner cost the employer

a further £100.

Johnsonv Timber Tailors (Midlands)

(1978)

When the claimant, a black Jamaican, applied for a job

with the defendants as a wood machinist the defendants’

works manager told him that he would be contacted in a

couple of days to let him know whether or not he had

been successful. Mr Johnson was not contacted and,

after a number of unsuccessful attempts to get in touch

with the works manager, was told that the vacancy had

been filled. Another advertisement for wood machinists

appeared in the paper on the same night as Mr Johnson

was told that the vacancy had been filled. Nevertheless,

Mr Johnson applied again for the job and was told that

the vacancy was filled. About a week later he applied

again and was again told that the job had been filled

Bloomberg Financial Marketsv

Cumandala (2000)

C applied for a post in Madrid but the company did

not offer him the job because he wanted to return to

London every weekend to see his wife. C was black and

of Angolan nationality. He claimed marital and race

discrimination. The EAT ruled that there was no marital

discrimination. The employer simply felt that C could not

give the necessary commitment to the job given the

weekly commuting. The employer would have taken the

same view if, for example, C had been a keen football

fan and had wished to commute every weekend in the

season to see his favourite team. However, in appointing

a white person, the view had been expressed that he

would ‘fit in better’. The EAT ruled that there had, in con-

sequence, been unlawful race discrimination in that

aspect of the employment.

Comment. Shorter-distance commuting may result in a

successful claim for marital discrimination in the case

where an applicant wants to see his family at weekends.

although a further advertisement had appeared for the

job on that day. An employment tribunal decided that the

evidence established that Mr Johnson had been dis-

criminated against on the grounds of race.

Examples

■A black clerk applies to a bank for a job. He is the only

suitably qualified applicant. If he had been white, the

interviewer would have appointed him. In the event,

no appointment is made and it is decided to readvert-

ise. The bank has directly discriminated against the

black applicant. There can be a finding of direct dis-

crimination against an employer even if he has no

hostile motive.

■A firm wishes to appoint a woman to a post as senior

manager. She will be dealing mainly with one particu-

lar client who says he would prefer not to work with a

woman. The firm therefore appoints a man instead.

This is direct discrimination.

■A company wishes to recruit a black woman as

supervisor of a typing pool but there is a change of

mind when some of the white employees object. This

is direct racial discrimination.