Limiting Part-Timers' Rights: Biggs v Somerset County Council [1996] IRLR 203
| DOI | 10.1177/135822919800300106 |
| Date | 01 March 1998 |
| Published date | 01 March 1998 |
| Author | Tamara K. Hervey,Philip Rostant |
| Subject Matter | Case Notes |
68
risk of harassment
. To put it at its lowest
: I have less than complete
faith that tribunals will adequately grasp the nettle
. The few instances
where the Codes of Practice have been referred to in discrimination
cases suggest that tribunals will not normally castigate employers for
failing to revamp their procedures in an effort to prevent discrimina-
tion from occurring
. It is true, though, that this point may be no
stronger here than in other areas of discrimination law
: the pratical
impact of all aspects of the law depends a great deal on the sensitiv-
ity and awareness of tribunals to the practical realities of discriminat-
ory attitudes and behaviour
.
Employers may face real problems in dealing with situations
such as arose in the present case
. Employees who were deprived of
the opportunity of working because the employer feared they would
be harassed will certainly have a claim of unlawful discrimination
.
The same would be true if they were removed from the job when the
employer became aware of the harassment
and
not
paid for the
period when they were consequently not working
.
But if they are
paid for not working, is there not an argument that those who have
to work to be paid are being discriminated against? This may be too
fanciful, as otherwise the employer is in a Catch-22 situation, bearing
in mind that the duty to prevent harassment may arise even if there
is no prior knowledge that it is likely to occur
. Finally, what if the
waitresses here were removed from the job, but were told later about
the content of Manning's jokes, whether or not they were about any
particular individuals? Such an outcome is entirely predictable, but
the imposition of liability might be thought to be going too far
.
It is enormously encouraging to see evidence of real sensitivity
in the judiciary to the impact which harassment may have on its vic-
tims and the practical problems involved in seeking to bring harass-
ment litigation
. These decisions are of course greatly to be wel-
comed
. They leave, nevertheless, many unanswered questions, the
answers to which will help to determine the real, practical gains
which these decisions have wrought
.
Richard Townshend-Smith
Senior Lecturer in Law
University of Wales Swansea
Limiting Part-Timers' Rights
: Biggs
v
Somerset County Council [1996]
IRLR 203
British employment law provides a right to apply to an industrial tri-
bunal in a complaint of unfair dismissal
. Since its inception, the right
To continue reading
Request your trial