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Personal Employment

Discrimination & harassment lawyers in London & Thames Valley

What is discrimination?

Discrimination in the workplace can take many forms. Various types of discrimination and other unlawful conduct that apply to the protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation) are direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

What is harassment?

Harassment is any unwanted physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them. A single incident can amount to harassment. It also includes treating someone less favourably because they have submitted or refused to submit to unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, or that is related to gender reassignment or sex, in the past.

Common grounds for discrimination and harassment

Discrimination and/or harassment may take the form of racist, sexist, homophobic or ageist jokes or stereotypical remarks about a particular ethnic or religious group, religion or belief, or gender; offensive emails, text messages or social media content; mocking, mimicking or belittling a person’s disability.

Whether you believe that you have been treated badly or suffered harassment simply because you have one of the protected characteristics or because your employer’s working arrangements are inherently discriminatory, we can offer you support, help you understand your rights and the actions you can take to get the discrimination to stop.

Why you need a discrimination lawyer

Proving that discrimination and/or harassment has occurred is not always easy and it can be a daunting process so our lawyers will guide you on the evidence you need, how you can best meet the obstacles head on and give yourself the best chance of a successful outcome. We also act for companies which means that we are well equipped to advise you on a grievance or claim and how to position you when dealing with your employer.

Contact Us

If you need assistance with raising a discrimination or harassment grievance or claim, please get in contact with our discrimination law specialists. 

An exceptional balance of expertise and personality.”

Legal 500

Key contacts

Monica Atwal

Managing Partner

View profile

+44 118 960 4605

Katie Glendinning

Partner

View profile

+44 118 960 4610

Read, listen and watch our latest insights

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  • 05 December 2019
  • Employment

Political beliefs in the workplace and what employment law has to say about it…

We are fast approaching one of the most extraordinary and unprecedented general elections in the history of the UK. Extraordinary in the sense that a December election has not been held since 1923 and unprecedented in the sense that the election is overtly linked to an intricate experience which the UK has never encountered before: leaving the EU. There are divisions in opinion amongst family members, friendship groups and even work colleagues. As election day approaches and tensions build, the latter may start to cause concern for employers.

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  • 29 November 2019
  • Employment

IR35 changes: HMRC ups its game

As businesses continue to prepare for the impact of the April 2020 changes to IR35 and the private sector, it is important to be aware that this week the government has launched an update to its online check employment status for tax (CEST) tool.

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  • 28 November 2019
  • Employment

Employment Tribunal decides that TUPE applies to ‘workers’ not just employees

Under TUPE, individuals who are ‘employed’ by the transferor and assigned to the organised grouping of resources or employees that is subject to the relevant transfer (whose contracts would otherwise be terminated by the transfer) will transfer to the transferee.

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  • 28 November 2019
  • Employment

Landmark Supreme Court judgment extending whistleblowing protection

The Supreme Court, in Jhuti v Royal Mail, has reversed the Court of Appeal’s decision and held that an employee was unfairly dismissed for making a protected disclosure despite the fact that the decision-maker was unaware of the disclosure.

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  • 22 November 2019
  • Employment

Global labour standards will have a bigger impact on the UK, whatever the outcome of the election

the Labour Party has set out a radical manifesto for the future of UK employment law and there has been a lot of focus on the changes to laws affecting trade unions. It is worth picking up on further comments by the shadow chancellor today. When he was put on the spot regarding Labour’s position on secondary picketing, he refused to be pinned down but did state: “We will make sure that people have the right, as in the ILO conventions to withdraw their labour.”

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  • 22 November 2019
  • Employment

Unfair dismissal due to trade union activities

In the recent case of Cadent Gas Ltd v Singh the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld a tribunal decision that an employee was automatically unfairly dismissed because of his trade union activities despite the fact that the disciplinary and appeal officers were not motivated by his union activities.

“I would like to commend the team at Clarkslegal for their support given to me at my recent employment tribunal. Their attention to detail, foresight in their approach and ability to keep me focused were truly exceptional.”

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