The
UK’s equality commissions have welcomed a Court of Appeal decision that makes
it clear that people who have been discriminated against can claim compensation
for the losses they suffer as a result.
The
decision centred on the case of Yassin Essa, a construction worker who was
racially abused during the allocation of work on the building site of the
Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
Essa
left his job and suffered from depression following the incident, but the
employment tribunal’s original decision ruled that he was not entitled to
compensation for psychiatric illness because it was not a foreseeable reaction.
The
Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), Commission for Racial Equality and
Disability Rights Commission took the unprecedented step of making a joint
application to the Court of Appeal to intervene in the case and assist in
interpreting the relevant legislation.
If
the original decision was upheld, the commissions said, it would have meant
that people who suffered an unusually severe reaction to discrimination would
only be able to recover compensation for the injuries that were ‘reasonably
foreseeable’.
Julie
Mellor, chair of the EOC, said: "This decision recognises the damage
discrimination can cause and ensures people will be properly compensated in
future."
Dianah
Worman, equal opportunities adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development, said the decision had clarified an important issue.
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