McConnell v Police Authority for Northern Ireland
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1997 |
| Date | 01 January 1997 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
- Religious or political discrimination - Compensation - Appeal on points of law - Scope of Court of Appeal's jurisdiction -Whether Court of Appeal entitled to intervene if tribunal misapprehended facts - Whether Court of Appeal entitled to intervene if award of compensation excessive - Damages - Aggravated damages - Injury to feelings - Tribunal assessing aggravated damages as extra sum in addition to compensation - Whether tribunal's approach valid -Whether evidence to support tribunal's conclusion that employer's conduct aggravating damages -Amount of compensation award - Whether persons subject of religious or political discrimination in Northern Ireland meriting higher compensation than persons subject to discrimination in Great Britain on grounds of sex or race - Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act, 1976, ss. 26, 27 - Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act, 1989, s. 50.
On 29 November, 1995, the Fair Employment Tribunal upheld a complaint by M. that the police authority had unlawfully discriminated against him contrary to the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act, 1976, in not appointing him to the post of armourer and in the arrangements which it had made to select successful candidates for that post. Following an adjournment the tribunal awarded compensation pursuant to s. 26 of the 1976 Act totalling £22,639, made up of £9,639 for past loss of earnings, £500 for future loss, £10,000 compensation for injury to his feelings and a further £2,500 by way of aggravated damages. In assessing the injury to M.'s feelings the tribunal took into account, inter alia, the increased injury caused by the identity of the body carrying out that discrimination, and the unique sensitivities which the tribunal perceived as attaching to allegations of unlawful discrimination on the grounds of religious beliefs in Northern Ireland. The police authority appealed by way of case stated against the last two elements in the award contending that the tribunal had erred: (i) in regarding aggravated damages as an extra element over and above compensatory damages; (ii) in regarding the police authority's conduct as capable of aggravating the damages; (iii) in the manner in which it had had regard to the identity of the police authority; and (iv) in regarding discrimination on the grounds of religious belief or political opinion in Northern Ireland as capable of attracting a higher level of awards. M...
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...the claimant and thus his injury to feelings, and are part of the award for injury to feelings. (See McConnell v Police Authority for NI [1997] NI 244.) They are compensatory and not punitive and can be awarded were the employer has acted in a ‘highhanded, malicious, insulting or oppressive......
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McNicholl vs Bank of Ireland,F
...impact of the discriminatory act on the claimant and thus the injury to feelings (see McConnell v Police Authority for Northern Ireland [1997] NI 244). Subsequent conduct, such as failing to investigate complaints and/or apologise or failing to treat the complaint with the requisite serious......