Bvunzai v Glasgow City Council
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 02 December 2005 |
| Neutral Citation | [2005] CSIH 85 |
| Docket Number | No 15 |
| Date | 02 December 2005 |
| Court | Court of Session (Inner House) |
Court of Session Inner House Extra Division
Lord Hamilton, Lord Kingarth, Lord Reed
Employment law - Race discrimination - Whether unlawful discrimination in decision not to appoint applicant of Zimbabwean origin to post - Race Relations Act 1976 (cap 74), sec 1(1)(a)
The Race Relations Act 1976 contains provisions against discrimination on racial grounds. By sec 1(1) it provides 'A person discriminates against another in any circumstances relevant to the purposes of this Act if (a) on racial grounds he treats that other less favourably than he treats or would treat other persons'.
A British citizen of Zimbabwean origin was employed by a local authority from 1977, from 1982 at senior management level. In 2000 he applied for an internal vacancy for a promoted post. His application was unsuccessful, and he complained of unlawful discrimination to the employment tribunal. The employment tribunal found that he had been treated less favourably than the successful applicant, M, a white female, and drew the inference that the discrimination had been on racial grounds. It found that there had been departures by the interview panel from the local authority's own code of practice and anomalies in the scoring procedure, which favoured M. It upheld the complaint and calculated compensation. The Employment Appeal Tribunal reversed the decision and also found fault with the calculation of compensation. The applicant appealed to the Court of Session on the merits, but accepted that if he was successful the case should be remitted to the employment tribunal to reassess compensation. Late grounds of appeal by the local authority were refused by the court, with the result that the employment tribunal's conclusion on less favourable treatment was not in issue, and the question before the court was whether the employment tribunal had been entitled to infer from the evidence that that treatment was on racial grounds.
Held that having held that the applicant had received less favourable treatment, the employment tribunal was entitled to infer from the evidence about the interview and assessment of the candidates that the decision had been influenced by racial factors, and that the local authority had failed to explain its conduct in such a way as to point convincingly to a genuine non-racial reason for the less favourable treatment (paras 10-12); and appeal allowed and case remitted to the employment tribunal to reassess compensation.
Clarence Bvunzai brought a complaint against Glasgow City Council in the employment tribunal alleging unlawful discrimination under the Race Relations Act 1976. On 14 November 2003 the tribunal upheld his complaint and calculated compensation. The respondent appealed to the employment appeal tribunal, which on 8 November 2004 reversed the decision and also found fault with the calculation of compensation. The appellant appealed to the Court of Session.
Cases referred to:
Anya v University of OxfordUNKICRUNK [2001] EWCA Civ 405; [2001] ICR 847; [2001] IRLR 377
Bahl v The Law SocietyUNK [2004] IRLR 799
Dhesi v Glasgow City CouncilSC [2005] CSIH 86; 2006 SC 300
Glasgow City Council v ZafarSCWLRUNK 1998 SC (HL) 27; 1998 SLT 135; [1997] 1 WLR 1659; [1998] 2 All ER 953
King v The Great Britain-China CentreICRUNK [1992] ICR 516; [1991] IRLR 513
Law Society (The) v BahlUNK [2003] IRLR 640
Nagarajan v London Regional TransportELRWLRUNKICR [2000] 1 AC 501; [1999] 3 WLR 425; [1999] 4 All ER 65; [1999] ICR 877
Salamis (Marine & Industrial) Ltd v Forbes [2005] CSIH 57, 14 July 2005, unreported
Yeboah v CroftonUNKUNK [2002] EWCA Civ 794; [2002] IRLR 634
The cause called before an Extra Division, comprising Lord Hamilton, Lord Kingarth and Lord Reed, for a hearing on the summar roll, on 1, 2 and 3 November 2005.
At advising, on 1 December 2005, the opinion of the Court was delivered by Lord Hamilton-
Opinion of the Court- [1] The appellant is a British citizen of Zimbabwean origin. After training as a nurse, he obtained employment with the respondent in August 1977. He worked in its social work department and, having gained a diploma in social work, held various posts concerned with the residential care of older people. From 1982 he held a senior management position. From about 1996 or 1997 he had been depute unit manager of an establishment known as Balornock House.
[2] On 18 August 2000 the appellant, having noticed a job advertisement on the internal vacancy list for a unit manager at an establishment known as Cheviot House, submitted an application form for that post. Five candidates were interviewed, of whom four were male and one female and four were white and one (the appellant) black. The appellant was not appointed to the post, the white female (a Ms McGuire) being the successful candidate.
[3] On 9 January 2001 the appellant presented an application to an employment tribunal claiming that in a number of ways he had, in respect of his application for the post of unit manager, been unlawfully discriminated against by the respondent, contrary to sec 4(2)(b) of the Race Relations Act 1976. The only such claim which is material for present purposes is one made of 'direct' discrimination as described in sec 1(1)(a) of the Act, which provides that 'a person discriminates against another … if … on racial grounds he treats that other less favourably than he treats or would treat other persons'.
[4] The employment tribunal sustained that claim and made a calculation of compensation payable to the appellant. The...
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Claren Bvunzai V. Decisions Of Glasgow City Council
...to be reassessed. On 1 December 2005 this court allowed the appeal. The court stated, at paragraph 13 of its opinion (reported at 2006 SC 293): "In these circumstances we shall allow the appeal and remit the case to the employment tribunal (as originally constituted) to reassess the computa......