Motive is no Defence
Email Update 57
The Employment Appeal Tribunal in the case of Amnesty International v Ahmed [2009] UKEAT 0447_08_1308 has upheld the Employment Tribunal’s finding that a well-intentioned motive does not provide an employer with a defence to a claim of race discrimination.
Miss Ahmed was of Northern Sudanese origin. She applied for a promotion to the post of researcher for Sudan with Amnesty International. Amnesty International was of the view that being appointed to the post may put Miss Ahmed and her colleagues in increased danger. They rejected Miss Ahmed’s application for the promotion and Miss Ahmed brought tribunal proceedings, including a claim for race discrimination.
The Employment Tribunal determined that Amnesty International had discriminated against Miss Ahmed on the ground of her race as it was because of her race that she had not been successful in her application for promotion. They found that Amnesty’s well-intentioned motive provided no defence as direct discrimination cannot be justified in law.
In its Judgment the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld that decision. It was concluded that it does not matter whether discrimination is intentional or unintentional: discrimination is discrimination. Even though an employer may have good intentions this is not a defence.
You can access the full text of the Judgment here:
http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKEAT/2009/0447_08_1308.html
There may be a variety of situations in which an employer might unlawfully discriminate against a person for well-intentioned reasons. However, an employment tribunal is likely to be less interested in the motive of the employer than the question of whether less favourable treatment has occurred on the grounds of a protected characteristic such as sex, age or disability.
Therefore, employers should be very careful in dealing with sensitive issues involving employees who fall into a protected category under discrimination law. Just Employment Law will be pleased to advise clients on achieving a non-discriminatory solution to any such issues.
