Workplace Discrimination Barristers

The Equality Act 2010 protects nine characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. It protects employees, workers, many contractors and job applicants, and unlike ordinary unfair dismissal there is no minimum period of service. Claims can concern recruitment, pay and benefits, promotion, training, dismissal and treatment after employment has ended.

Getting the legal label right is half the battle, because each type of claim has its own test. Direct discrimination (section 13) is less favourable treatment because of a protected characteristic, usually judged against a real or hypothetical comparator. Indirect discrimination (section 19) is a provision, criterion or practice applied to everyone that puts your group at a particular disadvantage, which the employer can defend only if it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Disability brings two further claims: discrimination arising from disability (section 15) and failure to make reasonable adjustments (sections 20 and 21). Harassment (section 26) and victimisation for complaining about discrimination (section 27) complete the picture.

Discrimination is rarely admitted, so section 136 shifts the burden of proof. If you prove facts from which the tribunal could conclude discrimination occurred, the employer must then show a non-discriminatory explanation. That makes the evidence of comparators, timing, inconsistent explanations and statistics central. Compensation is not capped and can include an award for injury to feelings, assessed by reference to the Vento bands, which are updated periodically by Presidential Guidance. Since October 2024 employers have also been under a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, and the tribunal can uplift compensation for sexual harassment where that duty is breached.

ACAS early conciliation is required before you submit an ET1. The time limit runs from the act complained of: three months less one day for acts before 1 October 2026 and six months for acts on or after that date. Where there is conduct extending over a period, time runs from the end of it, and the tribunal can extend time where it is just and equitable, though you should never rely on that. A Direct Access Barrister can analyse which claims fit your facts, draft the grounds and represent you, while you submit the claim and manage the correspondence.

1. 1

   Mapping the Incidents

   You give your Barrister a dated list of what happened and who was involved. Your Barrister matches each incident to the correct type of claim and flags any that may already be out of time.

2. 2

   Grievance

   Raising a written grievance is often sensible and can generate useful evidence, such as the employer's explanation. It does not pause the tribunal time limit, so the deadline must be watched throughout.

3. 3

   ACAS and the ET1

   You notify ACAS for each respondent you intend to claim against. If conciliation fails, your Barrister drafts the grounds and you submit the ET1, quoting the certificate numbers.

4. 4

   List of Issues

   At a preliminary hearing the tribunal fixes exactly which allegations it will decide and under which sections. Your Barrister makes sure nothing important is lost at this stage, since the list shapes the whole hearing.

5. 5

   Disclosure and Witnesses

   Documents are exchanged, followed by witness statements. Comparator treatment, internal emails about you and the outcome of any grievance often become the key evidence.

6. 6

   Final Hearing

   Your Barrister cross-examines the managers whose reasons are in question and makes submissions on whether the burden of proof has shifted and been discharged.